Enantioselective synthesis of β-pyrazole-substituted alcohols through an asymmetric ring-opening reaction of meso-epoxides

An efficient and practical synthesis of optically pure β-pyrazole-substituted alcohols was achieved by an asymmetric ring-opening reaction of meso-epoxides with pyrazole derivatives as the nucleophile. In the presence of 1?mol?% of an N,N'-dioxide-Sc(OTf)(3) complex, excellent enantioselectivity and yields were obtained from meso-epoxides. The process could also be used for a mixture of cis- and trans-stilbene oxides. A proposed transition-state model is provided.     

Development of Channeled Nanofibrous Scaffolds for Oriented Tissue Engineering

A tissue‐engineering scaffold resembling the structure of the natural extracellular matrix can often facilitate tissue regeneration. Nerve and tendon are oriented micro‐scale tissue bundles. In this study, a method combining injection molding and thermally induced phase separation techniques is developed to create single‐ and multiple‐channeled nanofibrous poly(L ‐lactic acid) scaffolds. The overall shape, the number and spatial arrangement of channels, the channel wall matrix architecture, the porosity and mechanical properties of the scaffolds are all tunable. The porous NF channel wall matrix provides an excellent microenvironment for protein adsorption and the attachment of PC12 neuronal cells and tendon fibroblast cells, showing potential for neural and tendon tissue regeneration.

     

β‐Cyclodextrin‐Platinum Nanoparticles/Graphene Nanohybrids: Enhanced Sensitivity for Electrochemical Detection of Naphthol Isomers

Naphthol isomers, including α‐naphthol (α‐NAP) and β‐naphthol (β‐NAP), are used widely in various fields and are harmful to the environment and human health. The qualitative and quantitative determination of naphthol isomers is therefore of great significance. Herein, β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD)‐platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs)/graphene nanosheets (GNs) nanohybrids (β‐CD‐PtNPs/GNs) were prepared for the first time using a simple wet chemical method and characterized by atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and electrochemical methods, and then applied successfully in the ultrasensitive electrochemical detection of naphthol isomers. The results show that the oxidation peak currents of naphthol isomers obtained at the glassy carbon (GC) electrode modified with β‐CD‐PtNPs/GNs are much higher than those at the β‐CD/GNs/GC, PtNPs/GNs/GC, GNs/GC, and bare GC electrodes. Additionally, compared with other electrochemical sensors developed previously, the proposed electrode results in improved detection limits of about one order of magnitude for α‐NAP (0.23 nM ) and three orders of magnitude for β ‐NAP (0.37 nM ).     

发光二极管路灯光强空间分布的非线性优化设计

道路照明的首要目的是满足使用者的视觉需求,在此前提下还应尽可能降低能耗实现节能环保,这两点均与道路灯具的光强空间分布密切相关。而很难用一种通用的光强分布适用不同的道路和灯具安装条件。针对主干路、次干路、支路3种典型道路类型,提出了根据具体道路、安装条件以及驾驶员视觉光环境需求逆向设计灯具最节能光强空间分布的思路,并建立了以驾驶员视觉光环境需求为约束、以灯具总光通量最小为目标的非线性优化模型,将路面照度分布表述为余弦多项式并利用分级优化方法进行了求解。得到了3种典型道路条件下发光二极管(LED)路灯的最佳光强空间分布,相比现基于照度均匀分布设计的LED路灯光强分布,驾驶员视觉光环境质量显著改善,且灯具节能30%左右。     

Fluorescence holography with improved signal-to-noise ratio by near image plane recording

Holographic fluorescence imaging is very promising, as it can obtain three-dimensional fluorescence imaging without scanning. However, the current method usually records holograms far from the image plane, with the fluorescence decaying when spreading broadly. Here we show that the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of fluorescence holography can be improved by recording the high-contrast interferogram near the image plane. We found that this can be achieved by setting the focal length of the lens for the reference wave (f(2)) close to that for the object wave (f(1)). With experiments, we demonstrate an example of an increase of about 21 times in SNR by changing f(2) from infinity to 226 mm, which is close to f(1) (323 mm).     

Rapid detection of gasoline by a portable Raman spectrometer and chemometrics

Identification of the gasoline purity is important for quality control and detection of gasoline adulteration. Principal component analysis and Raman spectroscopy were used to authenticate gasoline adulterated with methyl tert‐butyl ether (MTBE) and benzene. Gasoline could be clearly distinguished from gasoline adulterated with MTBE and benzene by a plot of the first principal component (x‐axis) against the second principal component (y‐axis). And the radial basis function neural network was used for quantitative prediction of the volume percentages of MTBE and benzene in gasoline based on Raman Spectra. The correlation coefficient (r) and mean absolute percentage error between predictive values and spiked values were 0.9907 and 0.9934 and 15.73 and 8.19%, respectively. Moreover, the Raman spectra of the samples were obtained with a portable Raman spectrometer. Therefore, the method is simple, effective, fast, does not require sample pre‐processing, and is promising for rapid gasoline detection. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synchronization on overlapping community network

In this paper, we propose a simple random network model with overlapping communities controlled by several parameters, and investigate the influence of the overlapping community structure on the synchronization behavior under different parameters. It is found that the synchronizability of the network is mainly influenced by the overlapping size of the communities and the connectivity density of the overlapped group to the other interrelated communities, and has nothing to do with the intra-connectivity of the overlapped group. In addition, it is found that the highly interconnected communities can be almost synchronized in a given time scale, whereas the overlapped group is far from synchronization. Furthermore, the instantaneous frequencies of the nodes in the communities and their overlapped group are also investigated, which show that the nodes in the overlapped group will exhibit a remarkable oscillation with a weighted mean frequency of the other correlative communities.     

Investigations into the analysis and modeling of the cytochrome P450 cycle

The main focus of our research is to explore the fundamental dynamics of the mechanism of the cytochrome P450 (CYP450) cycle. For this purpose we propose a system-theoretical approach, a time-dependent metabolic control analysis (tdMCA), to the analysis and quantitative modeling of the CYP450 catalytic pathway. This provides theoretical enlightenment for us to assess the transient response of the system to perturbations. In addition, the robustness of the cycle has also been observed, where perturbations elicit very weak responses and the system quickly recovers to the steady state (in an average of 10(-5) s). The tdMCA also shows that the two electron transfers to the cycle have different impacts on the system, and the cycle is more sensitive to the first electron than to the second one. Knowing the dynamics of transient fluctuations, the robustness of the cycle, and the effects from the key interim steps, one has a deeper understanding of the catalytic mechanism of cytochrome P450.     

The determining equations for the nonclassical method of the nonlinear differential equation(s) with arbitrary order can be obtained through the compatibility

In this paper, firstly we show that the determining equations of the (1+1) dimension nonlinear differential equation with arbitrary order for the nonclassical method can be derived by the compatibility between the original equation and the invariant surface condition. Then we generalize this result to the system of the (m+1) dimension differential equations. The nonlinear Klein–Gordon equation, the (2+1)-dimensional Boussinesq equation and the generalized Nizhnik–Novikov–Veselov equation serve as examples illustrating this method.