Development of Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction to Produce Skin-Whitening and Anti-Wrinkle Substances from Safflower Seed

In this study, ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) was applied to extract bioactive substances with skin-whitening, anti-wrinkle, and antioxidant effects from safflower seeds, and the extraction conditions were optimized by a central composite design. The independent variables, including extraction time (5.0~55.0 min), extraction temperature (26.0~94.0 °C), and ethanol concentration (0.0~100%), were optimized to increase tyrosinase activity inhibitory (TAI), collagenase activity inhibitory (CAI), and radical scavenging activity (RSA), which are indicators of skin-whitening, anti-wrinkle, and antioxidant effects. An extraction time of 26.4 min, extraction temperature of 52.1 °C, and ethanol concentration of 50.7% were found to be optimum conditions of UAE, under which TAI, CAI, and RSA were 53.3%, 91.5%, and 27.7%, respectively. The extract produced by UAE was analyzed by LC-MS/MS, and maleic acid and levulinic acid were identified as the main substances. Therefore, UAE is evaluated as an effective process to extract skin-whitening, anti-wrinkle, and antioxidant substances from safflower seeds at lower temperatures and shorter extraction times compared to the conventional extraction methods. Overall, safflower seeds extract can be used as a material for value-added cosmetics, including maleic acid and levulinic acid, which have bioactive functions.     

Dynamic role of the correlation effect revealed in the exceptionally slow autodetachment rates of the vibrational Feshbach resonances in the dipole-bound state

Real-time autodetachment dynamics of the loosely bound excess electron from the vibrational Feshbach resonances of the dipole-bound states (DBS) of 4-bromophonoxide (4-BrPhO⁻) and 4-chlorophenoxide (4-ClPhO⁻) anions have been thoroughly investigated. The state-specific autodetachment rate measurements obtained by the picosecond time-resolved pump-probe method on the cryogenically cooled anions exhibit an exceptionally long lifetime (τ) of ∼823 ± 156 ps for the 11′¹ vibrational mode of the 4-BrPhO⁻ DBS. Strong mode-dependency in the wide dynamic range has also been found, giving τ ∼ 5.3 ps for the 10′¹ mode, for instance. Though it is nontrivial to get the state-specific rates for the 4-ClPhO⁻ DBS, the average autodetachment lifetime of the 19′¹20′¹/11′¹ mode has been estimated to be ∼548 ± 108 ps. Observation of these exceptionally slow autodetachment rates of vibrational Feshbach resonances strongly indicates that the correlation effect may play a significant role in the DBS photodetachment dynamics. Fermi''s golden rule has been invoked so that the correlation effect is taken into account in the form of the interaction between the charge and the induced dipole where the latter is given by the polarizable counterparts of the electron-rich halogenated compound and the diffuse non-valence electron. This report suggests that one may measure, from the real-time autodetachment dynamics, the extent of the correlation effect contribution to the stabilization and/or dynamics of the excess non-valence electron among many different types of long-range interactions of the DBS.

Exceptionally slow autodetachment dynamics of the vibrational Feshbach resonances found in the dipole-bound state of 4-bromophonoxide (4-BrPhO⁻) or 4-chlorophenoxide (4-ClPhO⁻) anions reveals the associated dynamic role of the correlation effect.     

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering of nucleic acid components in silver sol: Uracil and its derivatives

The surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of uracil, uridine, 2′-deoxyuridine and 5′-rUMP adsorbed on aqueous silver sol was investigated. Uracil was found to adsorb as the N-3 deprotonated form, which underwent a reorientation from the situation where the base was perpendicular to the surface to the situation where the base lay flat on the surface as the surface charge was made more negative. The N-3 deprotonated molecules of uridine, 2′-deoxyuridine and 5′-rUMP were found to lie flat on the silver surface regardless of the bulk concentration and the silver surface charge.     

Multi-scale Fractured Coal Gas–Solid Coupling Model and Its Applications in Engineering Projects

With coal mining entering the geological environment of “high stress, rich gas, strong adsorption and low permeability,” the difficulty of joint coal and gas extraction clearly augments, the risk of solid–gas coupling dynamic disasters greatly increases, and the underlying mechanisms become more complex. In this paper, based on the characteristics of coal’s multi-scale structure and spatiotemporal variation, the multi-scale fractured coal gas–solid coupling model (MSFM) was built. In this model, the interaction between coal matrix and its fractures and the mechanical characteristics of gas-bearing coal were considered, as well as their coupling relationship. By MATLAB software, the stress–damage–seepage numerical computation programs were developed, which were applied into Comsol Multiphysics to simulate gas flow caused by coal mining. The simulation results showed the spatial variability of coal elastic modulus and cross-flow behaviors of coal seam gas, which were superior to the results of traditional gas–solid coupling model. And the numerical results obtained from MSFM were closer to the measured results in field, while the computation results of traditional model were slightly higher than the measured results. Furthermore, the MSFM in a large scale was verified by field engineering project.     

A BODIPY-based highly emissive dye with thiophene-based branch harvesting the light

ABSTRACT

A novel BODIPY-based dye with highly emissive character was configured by Sonogashira coupling and routinely characterized by NMR and MS technology. The emission of dye was investigated in solution/film/solid and shows intensive emission. In solution, the emission peak appeared around 510 nm with little influence by the polar environment. The terthiophene plays an effective antenna effect, harvesting the light and transferring the energy to BODIPY. The pseudo Stoke's shift enlarged to ～170 nm in solution. In film, the emission peak shifted to 563 nm in polycarbonate matrix. And it shifted further to 585 nm in solid due to the highly twisted structure, which avoided closely regular-tight packing. The dye rendered an intense fluorescence, good optothermal stability, and high fluorescence quantum yield (0.55). The solid emission showed highly red emission with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (X = 0.69, Y = 0.31). Thus, the synthesized dye is idea candidate for emitting materials.     

Weak Morrey spaces and strong solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations

We consider the Cauchy problem of Navier-Stokes equations in weak Morrey spaces. We first define a class of weak Morrey type spaces Mp*,λ(Rn) on the basis of Lorentz space Lp,∞ = Lp*(Rn)(in particular, Mp*,0(Rn) = Lp,∞, if p ＞ 1), and study some fundamental properties of them; Second,bounded linear operators on weak Morrey spaces, and establish the bilinear estimate in weak Morrey spaces. Finally, by means of Kato's method and the contraction mapping principle, we prove that the Cauchy problem of Navier-Stokes equations in weak Morrey spaces Mp*,λ(Rn) (1＜p≤n) is time-global well-posed, provided that the initial data are sufficiently small. Moreover, we also obtain the existence and uniqueness of the self-similar solution for Navier-Stokes equations in these spaces, because the weak Morrey space Mp*,n-p(Rn) can admit the singular initial data with a self-similar structure. Hence this paper generalizes Kato's results.     

Algorithms with high order convergence speed for blind source extraction

A rigorous convergence analysis for the fixed point ICA algorithm of Hyvärinen and Oja is provided and a generalization of it involving cumulants of an arbitrary order is presented. We consider a specific optimization problem OP(p), p>3, integer, arising from a Blind Source Extraction problem (BSE) and prove that every local maximum of OP(p) is a solution of (BSE) in sense that it extracts one source signal from a linear mixture of unknown statistically independent signals. An algorithm for solving OP(p) is constructed, which has a rate of convergence p?1.     

One-Point Extensions of t-Koszul Algebras

We introduce the category of t-fold modules which is a full subcategory of graded modules over a graded algebra. We show that this subcategory and hence the subcategory of t-Koszul modules are both closed under extensions and cokernels of monomorphisms. We study the one-point extension algebras, and a necessary and sufficient condition for such an algebra to be t-Koszul is given. We also consider the conditions such that the category of t-Koszul modules and the category of quadratic modules coincide.     

Pole placement controllers for linear time-delay systems with commensurate point delays

This paper investigates the exact and approximate spectrum assignment properties associated with realizable output-feedback pole-placement type controllers for single-input single-output linear time-invariant time-delay systems with commensurate point delays. The controller synthesis problem is discussed through the solvability of a set of coupled diophantine equations of polynomials. An extra complexity is incorporated to the above design to cancel extra unsuitable dynamics being generated when solving the above diophantine equations. Thus, the complete controller tracks any arbitrary prefixed (either finite or delaydependent) closed-loop spectrum. However, if the controller is simplified by deleting the above mentioned extra complexity, then the robust stability and approximated spectrum assignment are still achievable for a certain sufficiently small amount of delayed dynamics. Finally, the approximate spectrum assignment and robust stability problems are revisited under plant disturbances if the nominal controller is maintained. In the current approach, the finite spectrum assignment is only considered as a particular case to the designer‘s choice of a (delay-dependent) arbitrary spectrum assignment objective.