Synthesis of Halopyrazole Matrine Derivatives and Their Insecticidal and Fungicidal Activities

Matrine is a traditional botanical pesticide with a broad-spectrum biological activity that is widely applied in agriculture. Halopyrazole groups are successfully introduced to the C13 of matrine to synthesize eight new derivatives with a yield of 78–87%. The insecticidal activity results show that the introduction of halopyrazole groups can significantly improve the insecticidal activity of matrine on Plutella xylostella, Mythimna separata and Spodoptera frugiperda with a corrected mortality rate of 100%, which is 25–65% higher than matrine. The fungicidal activity results indicate that derivatives have a high inhibitory effect on Ceratobasidium cornigerum, Cibberella sanbinetti, Gibberrlla zeae and Collectot tichum gloeosporioides. Thereinto, 4-Cl-Pyr-Mat has the best result, with an inhibition rate of 23–33% higher than that of matrine. Therefore, the introduction of halogenated pyrazole groups can improve the agricultural activity of matrine.     

Crystal engineering of ferrocene-based charge-transfer complexes for NIR-II photothermal therapy and ferroptosis

Organic charge-transfer complexes (CTCs) can function as versatile second near-infrared (NIR-II) theranostic platforms to tackle complicated solid tumors, while the structure–property relationship is still an unanswered problem. To uncover the effect of molecular stacking modes on photophysical and biochemical properties, herein, five ferrocene derivatives were synthesized as electron donors and co-assembled with electron-deficient F4TCNQ to form the corresponding CTCs. The crystalline and photophysical results showed that only herringbone-aligned CTCs (named anion-radical salts, ARS NPs) possess good NIR-II absorption ability and a photothermal effect for short π–π distances (<3.24 Å) and strong π-electron delocalization in the 1D F4TCNQ anion chain. More importantly, the ARS NPs simultaneously possess ·OH generation and thiol (Cys, GSH) depletion abilities to perturb cellular redox homeostasis for ROS/LPO accumulation and enhanced ferroptosis. In vitro experiments, FcNEt-F4 NPs, and typical ARS NPs, show outstanding antitumor efficiency for the synergistic effect of NIR-II photothermal therapy and ferroptosis, which provides a new paradigm to develop versatile CTCs for anti-tumor application.

Based on crystal engineering of charge transfer complexes (CTCs), ferrocene-based CTCs, with Fenton-catalyzing, biothiol-responsive and NIR-II photothermal abilities, were controllably developed and the structure–property relationship was revealed.     

Energy Analysis of Precooling Air Compressor System

Energy saving is one of the main technique routes for net zero carbon emissions. Air compressor systems take up a large part of energy consumption in the industrial field. A pre-cooling air compressor system was proposed for energy saving by cooling the air before it flows in a compressor. The energy efficiency of the proposed system was analyzed. As additional energy consumption is required for air cooling, the feasibility of the pre-cooling method for energy saving was analyzed. As the efficiency of the pre-cooling air compressor system is mainly influenced by the environment temperature and humidity, applicability of the system in different regions and at different seasons was discussed. A pilot project was performed to verify the technical feasibility and economics of the proposed system. When the precooling temperature of the pilot system was set to 2 °C, the annual pneumatic-electrical ratio of the system can be increased by approximately 2% in several regions of China. This paper shows the pre-cooling air compressor system is feasible for energy saving.     

Optimization of Cockpit Ventilation for Polar Cruise Ships in Combination with Windscreen Defogging and Cabin Comfort Considerations

Polar cruise ships are exposed to extreme external conditions during voyages, resulting in cockpit windscreens that are prone to fogging and frosting, seriously affecting the driver’s vision and even threatening navigation safety. However, the current research mainly focuses on cabin comfort, ignoring the coupling of defogging and comfort. Accordingly, this paper combines cockpit-windshield-defogging design and cockpit comfort considerations, and proposes 108 orthogonal-ventilation design parameters based on the four basic ventilation methods. The effects of different air supply parameters on comfort and anti-fog characteristics are investigated by using fluid dynamics simulation methods. The entropy weight–TOPSIS algorithm is employed to find the optimal ventilation parameters. The results show that the “Down-supply up-return type vertical jet” air supply method corresponding to an air supply velocity of 1 m/s, an air supply temperature of 297 K, and an air supply relative humidity of 30% has the smallest Euclidean distance di+ from the positive ideal solution, and the largest Euclidean distance di− from the negative ideal solution; thus, it obtains a higher ci and the highest priority. This air supply method provides the best thermal comfort for the drivers, as well as the best anti-fogging and defogging effect. The results can be useful to provide suggestions for the future design of the air-conditioning systems in polar cruise ships.     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of (E)-4-(Benzyloxy)-2-(cinnamoyloxy)-N,N,N-trimethyl-4-oxobutan-1-aminium Chloride as a Double-prodrug

A novel hydrochloride quaternary ammonium salt (E)-4-(benzyloxy)-2-(cinnamo- yloxy)-N,N,N-trimethyl-4-oxobutan-1-aminium chloride (C23H29NO4Cl2, Mr = 454.37) has been synthesized via the sequence of acetylation and esterification by using L-carnitine (L-4-N-trimethy- lammonium-3-hydroxybutyric acid, LC) and cinnamic acid as the starting materials, and its crystal structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction method. The crystal belongs to monoclinic, space group P212121 with a = 10.1670(4), b = 10.4488(4), c = 22.9795(11) ?, V = 2441.18(18) ?3, Z = 4, Dc = 1.236 g/cm3, μ(MoKα) = 0.293 mm?1, F(000) = 960, Flack factor = –0.01(11), the final R = 0.0489 and wR = 0.1550 for 3350 observed reflections (I > 2σ(I)) and R = 0.0953 for all 5648 unique reflections. The crystal structure involves a conjugated system which shows a reverse olefin structure.     

Atmospheric CO_2 capture and photofixation to near-unity CO by Ti~(3+)-V_o-Ti~(3+) sites confined in TiO_2 ultrathin layers

To realize efficient atmospheric CO_2 chemisorption and activation,abundant Ti~(3+) sites and oxygen vacancies in TiO_2 ultrathin layers were designed.Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy and theoretical calculations first unveil each oxygen vacancy is associated with the formation of two Ti~(3+) sites,giving a Ti~(3+)-V_o-Ti~(3+)configuration.The Ti~(3+)-V_o-Ti~(3+) sites could bond with CO_2 molecules to form a stable configuration,which converted the endoergic chemisorption step to an exoergic process,verified by in-situ Fourier-transform infrared spectra and theoretical calculations.Also,the adjacent Ti~(3+) sites not only favor CO_2 activation into COOH*via forming a stable Ti~(3+)–C–O–Ti~(3+) configuration,but also facilitate the rate-limiting COOH~* scission to CO~* by reducing the energy barrier from 0.75 to 0.45 e V.Thus,the Ti~(3+)-V_o-TiO_2 ultrathinlayers could directly capture and photofix atmospheric CO_2 into near-unity CO,with the corresponding CO_2-to-CO conversion ratio of ca. 20.2%.     

Polarization diversity two-dimensional grating coupler on x-cut lithium niobate on insulator

We propose and demonstrate a polarization diversity two-dimensional grating coupler based on the lithium niobate on insulator platform, for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The optimization design, performance characteristics,and fabrication tolerance of the two-dimensional grating coupler are thoroughly analyzed utilizing the three-dimensional finite-difference time-domain method. Experimentally,-7.2 d B of coupling efficiency is achieved with 1 d B bandwidth of64 nm. The polarization-dependent loss is about 0.4 d B around 1550 nm. Our work provides new polarization multiplexing approaches for the lithium niobate on insulator platform, paving the way for critical applications such as high-speed polarization multiplexed electro-optical modulators.     

Quantum plasmons in the hybrid nanostructures of double vacancy defected graphene and metallic nanoarrays

We study the plasmonic properties of hybrid nanostructures consisting of double vacancy defected graphene(DVDGr)and metallic nanoarrays using the time-dependent density functional theory. It is found that DVDGr with pure and mixed noble/transition-metal nanoarrays can produce a stronger light absorption due to the coherent resonance of plasmons than graphene nanostructures. Comparing with the mixed Au/Pd nanoarrays, pure Au nanoarrays have stronger plasmonic enhancement. Furthermore, harmonics from the hybrid nanostructures exposed to the combination of lasers ranged from ultraviolet to infrared and a controlling pulse are investigated theoretically. The harmonic plateau can be broadened significantly and the energy of harmonic spectra is dramatically extended by the controlling pulse. Thus, it is possible to tune the width and intensity of harmonic spectrum to achieve broadband absorption of radiation. The methodology described here not only improves the understanding of the surface plasmon effect used in a DVDGr-metal optoelectronic device but also may be applicable to different optical technologies.     

基于生活实践的工程流体力学启发性教学初探

工程流体力学教学中需要强调理论与实践的有机结合.本文提出基于生活实践案例以问题链形式进行启发性工程流体力学教学.以总流能量方程及水头损失计算教学为例,设计了"自来水水龙头堵住一部分出口后水流喷射的距离和流量如何变化"这一简单生活实践问题,将重要知识点贯穿其中.教学应用效果表明,启发性、开放性的生活实践问题,能够很好地引导学生综合运用理论知识,解决实际问题,同时能够培养学生的生活观察和独立思考能力.     

磁电复合材料的力学实验与理论研究进展

磁电复合材料同时具备铁磁、铁电性,并且具有磁电耦合效应,在新型磁电器件、自旋电子器件、高性能信息存储等领域有着广泛的应用前景,已成为目前功能材料领域新的研究热点.论文对磁电复合材料在力电磁多场耦合下的力学行为研究的最新进展进行总结和回顾.着重介绍磁电复合材料的磁电耦合效应实验以及多场耦合微纳米力学实验仪器的研制和表征方法.同时,也阐述了磁电复合材料在多场耦合本构理论、失效断裂理论以及多尺度计算方面的研究进展.最后,总结已有研究存在的不足,就目前有待解决科学问题的进一步研究提出建议.