Encapsulation of nanocrystals with responsive gels for spatial optical identification

A tripeptide (β-AspFF) gelator was designed and synthesised using solid-phase peptide synthesis. The as-prepared gelator formed a stable and clear multi-responsive gel in toluene solution. Encapsulating the quantum dots with β-AspFF effectively increased stability and antioxidisation ability which are beneficial for optical identification.     

Predicting the Standard Enthalpy (ΔHo f) and Entropy (So) of Alkanes by Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) with Extended Delta-Bar-Delta (EDBD) back propagation learning algorithm have been developed to predict the standard enthalpy and entropy of 87 acyclic alkanes. Molecular weight, boiling point and density of the compounds were used as input parameters. The network's architecture and parameters were optimized to give maximum performances. The best network was a 3-6-2 ANN, and the optimum learning epoch was about 1320. The results show that the maximum relative errors of enthalpy and entropy are less than 3%. They reveal that the performances of ANNs for predicting the enthalpy and entropy of alkanes are satisfying.     

Destabilization of artificial biomembrane induced by the penetration of tryptophan

The effect of tryptophan on the membrane stability was studied by using three artificial biological membranes including liposome, Langmuir monolayer and solid supported bilayer lipid membrane (s-BLM) as models. All the results indicate that the penetration of tryptophan can destabilize different artificial biological membranes. The diameter of liposome and the leakage of calcein from liposome increased with the increase of tryptophan concentration because the penetration of tryptophan was beneficial for dehydrating the polar head groups of lipids and the formation of fusion intermediates. π-A isotherms of lecithin on the subphase of tryptophan solution further confirm that tryptophan can penetrate into lipid monolayer and reduce the stability of lipid monolayer. When the concentration of tryptophan increased from 0 to 2 × 10⁻³ mol L⁻¹, the limiting molecular area of lecithin increased from 110.5 to 138.5 Å², but the collapse pressure of the monolayer decreased from 47.6 to 42.3 mN m⁻¹, indicating the destabilization of lipid monolayer caused by the penetration of tryptophan. The resistance spectra of s-BLM demonstrate that the existence of tryptophan leads to the formation of some defects in s-BLM and the destabilization of s-BLM. The values of electron-transfer resistance and double layer capacitance respectively decreased from 5.765 × 10⁶ Ω and 3.573 × 10⁻⁸ F to 1.391 × 10⁶ Ω and 3.340 × 10⁻⁸ F when the concentration of tryptophan increased from 0 to 2 × 10⁻³ mol L⁻¹. Correspondingly, the breakdown voltage of s-BLM decreased from 2.51 to 1.72 V.     

Exact Analytical Solution to Equations of Perihelion Advance in General Relativity

Previously the perihelion advance in binary system was computed approximately. We will present an exact analytical solution to nonlinear differential equation of perihelion advance by method of Jacobian elliptic function and the advanced angle between successive perihelions. Project supported by the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars from Ministry of Education, China (Grant No. [2004]527) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hunan Province, China (Grant No. 06JJ2026)     

A novel caged-prenylxanthone from Garcinia bracteata

<正>A novel caged-prenylxanthone xanthone,neobractatin(1),was isolated from the twig of Garcinia bracteata.Its structure was elucidated by spectroscopic methods,especially 2D NMR techniques.     

PEO/PVDF-based gel polymer electrolyte by incorporating nano-TiO2 for electrochromic glass

Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology - To develop high performance mixed matrix gel polymer electrolyte, the synergistic effect of blending PVDF (PEO/PVDF weigh ratio of 85:15) and adding...     

Ionic liquid promoted preparation of 4H-thiopyran and pyrimidine nucleoside-thiopyran hybrids through one-pot multi-component reaction of thioamide

One-pot multi-component reactions of aldehydes, cyanothioacetamide and malononitrile promoted by ionic liquid proved to be an efficient way for the synthesis of thiopyran derivatives. Without any added catalyst, both aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes participated in this reaction smoothly. As an application of this method, a pyrimidine nucleoside-thiopyran chimera with potential biological activities was obtained in high yield from 5-formyl-2’-deoxyuridine. In addition, the ionic liquid used can be easily recovered and effectively reused for at least 5 times. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.