Theoretical estimation of metabolic network robustness against multiple reaction knockouts using branching process approximation

In our previous study, we showed that the branching process approximation is useful for estimating metabolic robustness, measured using the impact degree. By applying a theory of random family forests, we here extend the branching process approximation to consider the knockout of multiple reactions, inspired by the importance of multiple knockouts reported by recent computational and experimental studies. In addition, we propose a better definition of the number of offspring of each reaction node, allowing for an improved estimation of the impact degree distribution obtained as a result of a single knockout. Importantly, our proposed approach is also applicable to multiple knockouts. The comparisons between theoretical predictions and numerical results using real-world metabolic networks demonstrate the validity of the modeling based on random family forests for estimating the impact degree distributions resulting from the knockout of multiple reactions.     

Facile synthesis of self‐healing gel via magnetocaloric bottom‐ignited frontal polymerization

A series of the self‐healing gels facilely fabricated by VI (N‐vinyl imidazole) and MAH‐β‐CD (β‐cyclodextrin grafted vinyl carboxylic acid groups) via bottom‐ignited frontal polymerization (BIFP) initiated by magnetocaloric effect. Once ignited the bottom phase, the heat upward propagates to generate the “front” in the upper phase. Then, no further energy is added to maintain the reaction and the whole polymerization process experiences within minutes. In this system, the dependence of frontal velocity and temperature, along with morphology, swelling capacity, mechanical property, and self‐healing efficiency, on the preparation parameters is investigated. Interestingly, the gels show good swelling capacity in the organic solvent, comparatively almost no absorption in water. Moreover, the as‐prepared gels exhibit excellent auto‐healing properties without any external stimuli at ambient temperature. The healed sample possesses 97% recovery of its tensile strength after 8 h healing time, which relies largely on the host–guest interaction between VI and MAH‐β‐CD. The results demonstrate that FP can be utilized as an efficient and energy‐saving method to synthesize self‐healing supramolecular gels. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 2585–2593     

A stabilized Oseen iterative finite element method for stationary conduction–convection equations

A stabilized Oseen iterative finite element method for the stationary conduction–convection equations is investigated in this paper. The stability and iterative error estimates are analyzed, which show that the presented method is stable and has good precision. Numerical results are shown to support the developed theory analysis and demonstrate the efficiency of the given method. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simultaneous determination of five active hydrolysis ingredients from Panax quinquefolium L. by HPLC‐ELSD

An effective method for simultaneous determination of five hydrolysis products of 20 (R)‐dammarane‐3β,6α,12β,20,25‐pentol, 24(R)‐ocotillol, 20(R)‐protopanaxatriol, 20(S)‐panaxatriol and 20(R)‐dammarane‐3β,12β,20,25‐tetrol was developed using high‐performance liquid chromatography with evaporative light scattering detection (HPLC‐ELSD). The hydrolysis products from Panax quinquefolium L. in the stems and leaves, berries, flower buds and roots components were successfully separated on a Kromasil C₁₈ column using methanol and water (83:17, v/v) as mobile phase in 18 min. The parameter for the ELSD was set to a probe temperature of 40°C and the nebulizer for nitrogen gas was adjusted to 3 L/min. All calibration curves showed good linear regression (r > 0.9975) within test ranges. The validation of the method included recovery, linearity, accuracy and precision (intra‐ and inter‐day variation). The accuracy and precision were satisfactory, with the overall intra‐ and inter‐day variation being less than 3.11%, and recoveries of this method were greater than 95.0%. This study developed an effective and rapid method for simultaneous determination of multiple hydrolysis components from Panax quinquefolium L. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Photonic generation of high-purity 60 GHz millimeter-wave signal requiring only 10 GHz radio frequency local oscillator

A novel approach to generate 60 GHz millimeter-wave from a 10 GHz radio frequency signal using an integrated nested DD-MZM without optical filter is proposed and demonstrated. The simulation results show that the generated frequency sextupling optical mm-wave has high purity with an OSSR exceeding 29 dB and a RFSSR of 25 dB, which is consistent with the theoretical analysis. Besides, a RoF link model is established to investigate the transmission performance. The eye diagram keeps clear even when the optical mm-wave is transmitted over 60 km and the power penalty is about 0.4 dB after fiber transmission of 50 km.