Highly Selective Catalytic Conversion of Phenolic Bio‐Oil to Alkanes

Oil and water : A new energy‐efficient and atom‐economical catalytic route for the production of alkanes and methanol by upgrading the phenolic fraction of bio‐oil has been developed. The one‐pot aqueous‐phase hydrodeoxygenation process is based on two catalysts facilitating consecutive hydrogenation, hydrolysis, and dehydration reactions.

     

A selective view of stochastic inference and modeling problems in nanoscale biophysics

Advances in nanotechnology enable scientists for the first time to study biological processes on a nanoscale molecule-by-molecule basis. They also raise challenges and opportunities for statisticians and applied probabilists. To exemplify the stochastic inference and modeling problems in the field, this paper discusses a few selected cases, ranging from likelihood inference, Bayesian data augmentation, and semi- and non-parametric inference of nanometric biochemical systems to the utilization of stochastic integro-differential equations and stochastic networks to model single-molecule biophysical processes. We discuss the statistical and probabilistic issues as well as the biophysical motivation and physical meaning behind the problems, emphasizing the analysis and modeling of real experimental data. This work was supported by the United States National Science Fundation Career Award (Grant No. DMS-0449204)     

One-step conversion of cellobiose to C6-alcohols using a ruthenium nanocluster catalyst

The one-step conversion of cellulose to C6-alcohols via green and energy efficient approaches has, as far as we are aware, not been reported. Such a process presents a considerable challenge, the two key problems being (1) finding a suitable solvent that dissolves the cellulose, and (2) the development of advanced catalytic chemistry for selective cleavage of the C-O-C bonds (glycosidic bonds) connecting glucose residues. The dissolution of cellulose has been recently realized by using ionic liquids as green solvents; there is still no efficient method, such as selective hydrogenation, for the precise C-O-C cleavage under mild conditions, however. Cellobiose is a glucose dimer connected by a glycosidic bond and represents the simplest model molecule for cellulose. We disclose in this communication that the one-step conversion of cellobiose to C6-alcohols can be realized by selectively breaking the C-O-C bonds via selective hydrogenation using a water-soluble ruthenium nanocluster catalyst under 40 bar H2 pressure.     

A study of density of states and ground states in hydrophobic-hydrophilic protein folding models by equi-energy sampling

We propose an equi-energy (EE) sampling approach to study protein folding in the two-dimensional hydrophobic-hydrophilic (HP) lattice model. This approach enables efficient exploration of the global energy landscape and provides accurate estimates of the density of states, which then allows us to conduct a detailed study of the thermodynamics of HP protein folding, in particular, on the temperature dependence of the transition from folding to unfolding and on how sequence composition affects this phenomenon. With no extra cost, this approach also provides estimates on global energy minima and ground states. Without using any prior structural information of the protein the EE sampler is able to find the ground states that match the best known results in most benchmark cases. The numerical results demonstrate it as a powerful method to study lattice protein folding models.     

Polymer-Solvent Interactions in Solutions of Thermoresponsive Polymers Studied by NMR and IR Spectroscopy

Summary: NMR relaxation and diffusion coefficient measurements revealed that a portion of water molecules is bound in mesoglobules formed in poly(N-isopropylmethacrylamide) (PIPMAm) and poly(vinyl methyl ether) (PVME) aqueous solutions above the LCST, with fast exchange between bound and free states (residence time ∼1 ms). Two types of bound water molecules were assigned to water bound inside mesoglobules and on their surface. For highly concentrated PVME/D₂O solutions (c ≥ 20 wt%) a slow exchange was detected by NMR for bound water (residence time = 2.1 s). For PIPMAm aqueous solution IR spectra indicate a two-steps character of the phase transition. For PIPMAm in D₂O/ethanol (EtOH) mixtures the globular structures were observed by NMR at 298 K for certain compositions of the mixed solvent (cononsolvency effect). Virtually no EtOH is bound in these globular structures, in contrast to the temperature-induced globular structures.     

可用于产生微波信号的间隔可调双波长光纤激光器

为了获得不同间隔双波长信号输出,提出一种基于受激布里渊效应产生双波长激光的实验装置,利用不同间隔双波长输出信号进行拍频实验可获得可调的微波信号输出;利用一段10 km长普通单模光纤（SMF）作为布里渊增益介质,一个线宽为5 kHz分布反馈激光器（DFB）作为布里渊抽运源,一段未泵浦的保偏掺铒光纤用作饱和吸收体抑制边模,通过改变未泵浦保偏掺铒光纤的长度,可获得不同间隔输出的双波长光纤激光器,实验获得波长间隔为0.170 nm和0.085 nm的激光信号输出,分别对应20 GHz和10 GHz的微波信号。     

中心刚体-旋转悬臂板耦合系统碰摩动力特性解析法研究

针对大型旋转机械叶片与机壳间发生的碰摩故障,建立了中心刚体-旋转悬臂板耦合系统碰摩动力学模型,考虑了离心刚化效应,利用Hamilton原理推导出运动微分方程。基于实验和有限元分析碰摩力的结果,给出了碰摩力的近似数学表达式,得到了系统振动响应解析解,通过与文献中实验结果的对比,验证了模型及方法的准确性,讨论了叶片梁模型和薄板模型在不同点碰摩及线碰摩情况下各自的适用范围,分析了转速对碰摩动力响应的影响。结果表明：论文解析解具有较高精度;薄板模型能够更全面地反映叶片各种不同碰摩情况下的动力特性,比梁模型更准确、可靠;随着转速的增大,碰摩力导致薄板自由端幅值突变,这是引发工程中叶片掉角,甚至折断的重要原因。     

光控DNA可逆杂交/解链及其应用

通过光敏分子与DNA相互作用,可以实现光控DNA杂交与解链,这种光控DNA有望成为下一代DNA功能构筑材料和纳米机械能量输入模式。本文总结了可逆光控DNA杂交/解链的各种途径及其作用机理,并分析其使用条件和光控效果。已有实验结果的对比和归纳表明,从DNA骨架上楔入含侧链偶氮苯官能团的单元,通过顺反异构实现DNA双链解链与杂交的可逆光控最具应用潜力,并且仍有一定的改进空间。本文介绍了这种骨架楔入偶氮苯光控DNA材料在纳米技术和生物技术方面的应用,并对其进一步的研究方向进行了展望。     

基于Labwindows/CVI的无人机畸变测试系统设计

针对现代无人机电网电压畸变参数检测的需求,设计了一种基于Labwindows/CVI的无人机专用畸变测试系统;根据实际装备的需求,设计过程中注重便携的特点和模块化设计思想,完成了系统的硬件和软件设计;为了提高设计的准确性,该系统还采用硬件滤波和数字滤波两种滤波方式进行滤波;实际应用表明,该系统能够准确测出无人机电网的畸变参数与畸变频谱,且各项测试指标均达到了设计要求,能够满足无人机电网交直流畸变测试的需要。     

ANALYTICAL SOLUTION FOR ROTATIONAL RUBBING PLATE UNDER THERMAL SHOCK

提出了热冲击和碰摩故障共同作用下的旋转悬臂板系统动力特性解析解法. 基于变分原理,推导出考虑碰摩力沿宽度方向差异性的薄板系统运动微分方程,将该方程的解分解为热冲击悬臂板准静态解和碰摩薄板热冲击动力解. 通过计算旋转悬臂板的模态特性和温度分布函数,获得了碰摩叶片旋转悬臂板模型的热冲击振动解析解,讨论分析得出热冲击和碰摩故障对薄板振动的影响规律. 研究表明:碰摩振动表现为复杂的多频率耦合振动,高频振动较为显著;热冲击振动表现为简单的低频振动形式,强烈的热冲击导致碰摩薄板趋于低频振动. 碰摩引起的振动形式较热冲击故障更加复杂,更容易引起叶片的破坏. 增大的摩擦系数加剧了碰摩引起的振动,利用减小表面粗糙程度等方法降低摩擦系数,可以达到减小碰摩破坏程度的目的.