A reduction model for eigensolutions of damped viscoelastic sandwich structures

The aim of this paper is to develop a reduction method to determine the modal characteristics of viscoelastic sandwich structures. The method is based on the high order Newton algorithm and reduction techniques. Numerical tests have been performed in the case of sandwich beams and cylindrical shells. The comparison of the results obtained by the reduction method with those given by direct simulation shows both a good agreement and a significant reduction in computational cost.     

大口径石英基底衍射透镜的高精度制备方法

针对传统接触式曝光过程中掩模版因自身重力产生形变从而引入不可忽视的线宽误差和位置误差的问题,提出了一种大口径石英基底衍射透镜的高精度制备方法.采用背面具有真空道的高平面度、高强度金属校正工装吸附在掩模版上,利用掩模版上下表面的压强差使其与工装高度贴合,确保掩模版的高平面度.待石英基底所有区域均与掩模版结构面紧密贴合后取下工装.完成接触式曝光和显影后,采用反应离子刻蚀技术对大口径石英基底进行刻蚀,最终得到高精度微纳米结构.经有限元分析,使用该校正工装后,掩模版的形变量由28.85μm减小为0.88μm.实验结果表明,采用该方法制备的口径430mm两台阶石英基底菲涅尔衍射透镜波像差优于1/25λ,平均衍射效率为38.24%,达到理论值的94.35%,具有良好的聚焦和光学成像效果.     

Molecular chaperone-like properties of sodium caseinate to suppress the pressure-induced aggregation of β-lactoglobulin

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to determine whether sodium caseinate can inhibit the aggregation of whey protein induced by pressure treatment. Solutions of β-lactoglobulin (β-Lg, 0.2%, w/v) and mixtures containing 0.2% (w/v) β-Lg and 0–0.5% (w/v) sodium caseinate (NaCas) were pressurized at 400–800?MPa. NaCas suppressed the aggregation of β-Lg induced by pressure treatment, and this function was dependent on the concentration of NaCas. Furthermore, NaCas altered the aggregation process of β-Lg by suppressing the transition of the aggregate from the soluble phase to the insoluble phase and, as a result, the fraction of insoluble aggregates was decreased. During this process, NaCas formed stable complexes with the denatured β-Lg, and the formation of complexes prevented further aggregation of β-Lg. These results indicate that NaCas exhibits a chaperone-like activity under high pressure.     

Crystal structures of silicon-rich lithium silicides at high pressure

Silicon (Si) is one of the most essential elements, as it is indispensable for modern electronic technology. The standard Si structure at ambient conditions is the cubic diamond structure, and it has an indirect band gap, which prevents it from being considered as a next-generation platform for semiconductor technologies. Therefore, the search for new allotropes of silicon has attracted great attention. Herein, first principles swarm-intelligence structure searches coupled with density-functional theory were performed to explore the stable high-pressure phases of silicon-rich lithium containing compounds, LiSi_x ($x=4\text{–}8$). The LiSi₄ stoichiometry was predicted to be stable, and it was found to assume one of the following space groups, P4/mnc, Cmmm, and C2/m within the pressure range of 0 to 50 GPa. By removing the Li atoms from these compounds, three silicon allotropes were obtained that were metastable at ambient pressures. Our work illustrates how novel silicon allotropes can be predicted using the CALYPSO method.     

Distinguishing and quantification of the human visual pathways using high-spatial-resolution diffusion tensor tractography

Quantification of the living human visual system using MRI methods has been challenging, but several applications demand a reliable and time-efficient data acquisition protocol. In this study, we demonstrate the utility of high-spatial-resolution diffusion tensor fiber tractography (DTT) in reconstructing and quantifying the human visual pathways. Five healthy males, age range 24–37 years, were studied after approval of the institutional review board (IRB) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. We acquired diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data with 1-mm slice thickness on a 3.0-Tesla clinical MRI scanner and analyzed the data using DTT with the fiber assignment by continuous tractography (FACT) algorithm. By utilizing the high-spatial-resolution DTI protocol with FACT algorithm, we were able to reconstruct and quantify bilateral optic pathways including the optic chiasm, optic tract, optic radiations free of contamination from neighboring white matter tracts.     

Transition-metal free synthesis of diaryl vinyl selenides: a simple synthetic approach with high selectivity

A simple, highly efficient synthetic protocol is developed for the synthesis of unsymmetrical diaryl vinyl selenides from diaryldiselenide and β-bromo styrene under transition-metal free conditions in N,N′-dimethyl propylene urea and 130 °C to afford high yields and excellent selectivities. This method provides a new strategy to fabricate a wide variety of important substituted molecular skeletons and an alternative to conventionally used metal salts, additives, and ligands.     

A novel Cr turn-on probe based on naphthalimide and BINOL framework

Naphthalimide and BINOL framework based fluorescent probe NP-B was rationally designed and synthesized. NP-B exhibited ‘turn-on’ fluorescence for Cr³⁺ and high selectivity over other metal ions. 1:1 binding mode between NP-B and Cr³⁺ was proposed and the mode was verified through MALDI-TOF mass spectrum. The detection limit was calculated to be 0.20 μM, which indicated the good sensitivity for Cr³⁺.     

Chiral Amine Synthesis Using ω‐Transaminases: An Amine Donor that Displaces Equilibria and Enables High‐Throughput Screening

The widespread application of ω‐transaminases as biocatalysts for chiral amine synthesis has been hampered by fundamental challenges, including unfavorable equilibrium positions and product inhibition. Herein, an efficient process that allows reactions to proceed in high conversion in the absence of by‐product removal using only one equivalent of a diamine donor (ortho‐xylylenediamine) is reported. This operationally simple method is compatible with the most widely used (R)‐ and (S)‐selective ω‐TAs and is particularly suitable for the conversion of substrates with unfavorable equilibrium positions (e.g., 1‐indanone). Significantly, spontaneous polymerization of the isoindole by‐product generates colored derivatives, providing a high‐throughput screening platform to identify desired ω‐TA activity.