Separation and purification of quinolyridine alkaloids from seeds of Thermopsis lanceolata R. Br. by conventional and pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography

In this work, the preparative separation of quinolyridine alkaloids from seeds of T. lanceolata by conventional and pH-zone-refining counter-current chromatography. Traditional counter-current chromatography separation was performed by a flow-rate changing strategy with a solvent system of ethyl acetate-n-butanol-water (1:9:10, v/v) and 200 mg sample loading. Meanwhile, the pH-zone-refining mode was adopted for separating 2.0 g crude alkaloid extracts with the chloroform-methanol-water (4:3:3, v/v) solvent system using the stationary and mobile phases of 40 mM hydrochloric acid and 10 mM triethylamine. Finally, six compounds, including N-formylcytisine (two conformers) ( 1 ), N-acetycytisine (two conformers) ( 2 ), (-)-cytisine ( 3 ), 13-β-hydroxylthermopsine ( 4 ), N-methylcytisine ( 5 ), and thermopsine ( 6 ) were successfully obtained in the two counter-current chromatography modes with the purities over 96.5%. Moreover, we adopted nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry for structural characterization. Based on the obtained findings, the pH-zone-refining mode was the efficient method to separate quinolyridine alkaloids relative to the traditional mode.     

Morphologies and mechanical properties of <Emphasis Type="Italic">cis</Emphasis>-1,4-butadiene rubber/polyethylene blends

The mechanical properties and phase morphologies of cis-1,4-butadiene rubber (BR) blended with polyethylene (PE) at different blend ratios were studied. The tensile test results show that the PE exhibits excellent reinforcing capabilities towards BR. Blending BR with PE results in a remarkable enhancement of tensile strength, modulus and the elongation at break simultaneously. An increment of tensile strength from 1.11 MPa to 16.26 MPa was achieved by incorporation of 40 wt% PE in the blends. The modulus and elongation at break of 40/60 PE/BR blends are also about 5 times higher than those of the pure BR treated under exactly the same conditions. The tear test indicates that the tear strength also increases with the increase of PE content. It reaches 58.38 MPa for the 40/60 PE/BR blend, which is approximately 10 times higher than that of the pure BR. Morphological study demonstrates that the PE forms elongated microdomains finely dispersed in the BR matrix when its content is over 30 wt%, which corresponds to the remarkably enhanced mechanical properties. According to the results, reinforcement mechanism of PE toward BR dependent on the microstructure has been discussed and two different mechanisms have been proposed.     

Electrospun Fibrous Membranes of Modified Polystyrene and its Copolymer With Butyl Acrylate and Their Respective Adsorption Capabilities for Cationic Blue and Copper Ions

Cationic dyes and metal ions in wastewater are considered as environmental pollutants. In order to treat these pollutants individually polystyrene (PS) and poly (styrene-co-butyl acrylate) (P(St-co-BA)) were first electrospun into fibrous membranes with a porous structure and then two simple modification methods were adopted to introduce -SO₃H and -COO^? groups into the PS fibrous membranes' and the P(St-co-BA) fibrous membranes' surfaces, respectively; finally the modified samples were used individually to adsorb either cationic blue dyes or copper ions, respectively. The results showed that the PS fibrous membranes were hydrophobic before modification but they became hydrophilic after modification due to the introduction of -SO₃H. Then the modified PS fibrous membranes had the capability to adsorb cationic blue dyes from water, and their adsorption efficiency, with an adsorption time of 300 min, reached 68.1%. For the P(St-co-BA) fibrous membranes, the -COO^? groups were introduced into their surfaces after hydrolysis in alkali lye; however, they showed very weak adsorption capability for copper ions due to the loss of the fiber-web structure. In addition, the thermal properties of the fibrous membranes before and after modification were analyzed, and the morphology was also observed by field emission scanning electron microscopy.     

Acoustic properties of micro-perforated panel absorber having arbitrary cross-sectional perforations

Micro-perforated panel absorber is used in many noise control applications as a next-generation absorbing material. Perforation shapes of micro-perforated panel studied are usually circular in the past. However, in practice, the perforations are often non-circular or irregular shape due to manufacturing techniques. Sound absorption coefficient and absorption bandwidth of the micro-perforated panel absorber may be further improved, when the perforations in shape are changed. In view of the existing exact solutions of sound propagation in tubes, the simple formulas of specific acoustic impedances of the tubes for triangle and square cross-sectional perforations are derived. Mass reactance end correction of the micro-perforated panel is obtained based on the sound radiation of a shaped piston. The specific acoustic impedance ratio of the micro-perforated panel absorber is calculated and analyzed, which can predict its sound absorption bandwidth. Finally, for closed perforations, the influences of the perforations in shape (including triangle, circle, square and irregular circle) on sound absorption of the MPP absorber are discussed in collaboration with FE simulations.     

On Bounding Entangling Rates and Mixing Rates in Some Special Cases

We derive bounds on mixing rates in a special case when the probabilistic ensemble of states is under certain restrictions. In this case we can prove the small incremental mixing conjecture with a constant c′ = 1, which is improved over the previous results of which the tightest is c′ = 2. Furthermore, we demonstrate a bound Γ(Ψ, H) ≤ 2∥H∥ log(d) for the small incremental entangling conjecture if d is sufficiently large.     

Dynamical analysis of a delayed six‐neuron BAM network

In this article, a simplified bidirectional associative memory network with delays involving six neurons is considered. By analyzing the distribution of roots of the characteristic equation for linearized system regarding the sum of delay as a bifurcation parameter, we obtain the condition of the occurrence for Hopf bifurcation. It reveals that Hopf bifurcation occurs when the sum of the delay passes through a critical value. The direction and the stability of the bifurcating periodic solution are determined by applying the normal form theory and center manifold theorem. Finally, a numerical example is used to illustrate the validity of theoretical results obtained. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 9–28, 2016     

Extraction of local coordination structure in a low‐concentration uranyl system by XANES

Obtaining structural information of uranyl species at an atomic/molecular scale is a critical step to control and predict their physical and chemical properties. To obtain such information, experimental and theoretical L₃‐edge X‐ray absorption near‐edge structure (XANES) spectra of uranium were studied systematically for uranyl complexes. It was demonstrated that the bond lengths (R) in the uranyl species and relative energy positions (ΔE) of the XANES were determined as follows: ΔE₁ = 168.3/R(U—O_ax)² ? 38.5 (for the axial plane) and ΔE₂ = 428.4/R(U—O_eq)² ? 37.1 (for the equatorial plane). These formulae could be used to directly extract the distances between the uranium absorber and oxygen ligand atoms in the axial and equatorial planes of uranyl ions based on the U L₃‐edge XANES experimental data. In addition, the relative weights were estimated for each configuration derived from the water molecule and nitrate ligand based on the obtained average equatorial coordination bond lengths in a series of uranyl nitrate complexes with progressively varied nitrate concentrations. Results obtained from XANES analysis were identical to that from extended X‐ray absorption fine‐structure (EXAFS) analysis. XANES analysis is applicable to ubiquitous uranyl–ligand complexes, such as the uranyl–carbonate complex. Most importantly, the XANES research method could be extended to low‐concentration uranyl systems, as indicated by the results of the uranyl–amidoximate complex (～40 p.p.m. uranium). Quantitative XANES analysis, a reliable and straightforward method, provides a simplified approach applied to the structural chemistry of actinides.