作为宇宙信使的X射线

60年前,里卡多·贾科尼团队用探空火箭首次探测到了来自太阳系以外的X射线辐射,从此打开了人类探索宇宙的一个全新的窗口。与我们所熟悉的可见光天空不同,在“看不见”的X射线宇宙,明亮的发光天体涵盖了黑洞、中子星、白矮星等致密天体,星系团和星系中弥漫的大量不可见的高温气体,以及各种剧烈的灾变事件。它们代表着宇宙中最为奇特的天体和极端的物理条件,如极强引力场、极强磁场和极高温。文章重点介绍最有代表性的X射线源,包括中子星和黑洞X射线双星、超大质量黑洞和活动星系核、星系团,以及伽马暴、超新星和潮汐瓦解恒星事件等爆发天体。     

基于改进的主动控制法实现混沌系统广义投影同步

通过引进特殊矩阵构造并基于Lyapunov稳定性理论,提出了一种改进的主动控制法来实现混沌系统的广义投影同步.改进后的主动控制不依赖于罗斯-霍维兹判据,与未改进的主动控制相比,简化了相关运算步骤和复杂度.通过对混沌能源系统和Nuclear Spin Generator系统的研究,并与其他同步方法进行比较,说明了该方法具有简单,直观,稳健,高效等优点,且对混沌系统的自结构和异结构广义投影同步均适用.数值模拟的结果进一步表明了该方法的有效性和理论分析的正确性. 关键词： 改进的主动控制 广义投影同步 特殊矩阵构造     

Surface and Antimicrobial Properties of N-Palmitoyl Amino Acid–Based Surfactants

Synthesized sodium N-pamitoyl amino acids were evaluated for surface and antimicrobial properties and compared with sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS). Emulsion stability of the amino acid surfactants and calcium tolerance of the sodium N-palmitoyl isoleucine were better as compared to SLS. Wetting ability and foaming properties of the palmitic acid-based surfactants were inferior to SLS. N-Acyl amino acids exhibited better antibacterial activity compared to sodium salts of N-acyl amino acids and standard compounds against Staphylococcus aureus MLS-16 and Bacillus subtilis. These studies revealed that the palmitoyl amino acid surfactants can be exploited in household, skin care formulations, and industrial applications.     

Albumin-mediated asymmetric nitroaldol reaction of aromatic aldehydes with nitromethane in water

We succeeded in the asymmetric nitroaldol (Henry) reaction of aromatic aldehydes with nitromethane using human serum albumin (HSA) in water at neutral pH. The reaction of 4-nitrobenzaldehyde smoothly proceeded for 24 h at 30 °C to afford the corresponding (R)-2-nitro-1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethanol (27% ee). Lowering the reaction temperature to 0 °C improved the enantioselectivity (53% ee). Although the denatured HSA also catalyzed the coupling reaction, no enantioselectivity was observed. The reaction was also applicable to other substrates bearing various substitutions on the benzene ring, and the ee of (R)-1-(biphenyl-4-yl)-2-nitroethanol was up to 79% ee.     

直接测距型激光主动成像系统发展现状

对直接测距型激光主动成像系统进行了深入研究。按照工作方式分类介绍了国外相关研究机构激光主动成像系统的工作原理及系统参数, 归纳总结并比较分析了各工作方式的优缺点。分析认为:基于单点或小面阵探测器配合光机扫描方案可实现较远作用距离, 但其对激光器重频要求较高, 后续数据处理复杂, 且系统体积、功耗较大;而基于Flash探测器的激光主动成像系统易于实现小型化, 对激光器重频要求较低。作用距离受限问题可通过电子扫描得以有效解决。在具体应用时, 需根据实际需求, 综合考虑系统体积、质量、功耗、激光器输出峰值功率及脉冲重复频率、所能获取的探测器类型、后续数据处理能力等多种因素折衷选取。     

New optically active poly(amide–imide)s from N-trimellitylimido-l-amino acid and 1,2-bis[4-aminophenoxy]ethane in the main chain: Synthesis and characterization

Six new optically active poly(amide–imide)s (PAIs) with good inherent viscosities were synthesized from the direct polycondensation reaction of N-trimellitylimido-l-amino acids with 1,2-bis[4-aminophenoxy]ethane by direct polycondensation in a medium consisting of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)/triphenyl phosphite (TPP)/calcium chloride (CaCl₂)/pyridine (py). Diamine was synthesized by using a two-step reaction. At first 1,2-bis[4-nitrophenoxy]ethane was prepared from the reaction of two equimolars 4-nitrophenol and one equimolar 1,2-dibromo ethane and the dinitro compound was reduced by using Pd/C. Also N-trimellitylimido-l-amino acids were synthesized by the condensation reaction of trimellitic anhydride with two equimolars of various l-amino acids in acetic acid solution. The polymerization reactions produced a series of optically active PAIs with a high yield and good inherent viscosity. The resulted polymers were fully characterized by means of FTIR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy, elemental analyses, inherent viscosity, specific rotation, solubility tests, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and a derivative of thermogravimetric (DTG) analysis.     

直接出射白光的新型发光二极管

介绍了实现出射白光发光二极管的几种方法,包括波长转化产生白光,多有源区级联合成白光以及单个有源区直接出射白光.并从芯片结构、材料选取、白光形成机理以及器件性能等四个方面对这几种方法进行了分析比较.最后指出了实现直接出射白光的发光二极管存在的问题及今后的研究重点.     

Barrier Dispersion-Based Coatings Containing Natural and Paraffin Waxes

Petroleum, synthetic, and natural waxes have been used as hydrophobic bases for dispersions intended for use as barrier coatings for packaging paper. Oil-in-water dispersions with alkaline pH were prepared by a two-step homogenization procedure containing paraffin wax, with various characteristics, the Fischer–Tropsch synthesis product or beeswax. The size of the dispersed particles determined by dynamic light scattering depended on the type of hydrophobic base used and was in the range of 350–440 nm. The ability of dispersion particles in aggregation driven by electrostatic attraction, evaluated by Zeta potential analysis by electrophoretic light scattering, was from −26 to −50 mV. Static multiply light scattering was used for 30 days of stability assessment and helped to select the dispersion with a Sarawax SX70 wax base as the most stable. Dispersions were further used for coating the backing of kraft paper by the Meyer rod method. Coated paper with an applied coating of 6 g/m² had very good hydrophobic properties (Cobb60 < 4 g/m²), sufficient strength properties, and air permeation, which enabled its application as a packaging material. The dispersions based on Sarawax SX70 wax were evaluated as the best coating for Mondi ProVantage Kraftliner 125 g/m² backing paper. Good hydrophobic properties and strength properties indicate the possibility of using the SX70-based wax dispersion coating as a replacement for PFAS coatings in some applications.     

Flower Extracts as Multifunctional Dyes in the Cosmetics Industry

Flowers are a natural source of bioactive compounds that not only have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-aging properties, but can also be used as natural dyes. For this reason, nowadays plants are widely used to produce natural cosmetics and foods. In these studies, the properties of the water extracts of Papaver rhoeas L., Punica granatum L., Clitoria ternatea L., Carthamus tinctorius L., and Gomphrena globosa L., as bioactive, natural dyes, were investigated. Plant flower extracts were tested for their antioxidant (ABTS and DPPH radical methods) and anti-inflammatory effects by determining the ability to inhibit the activity of lipoxygenase and proteinase. The extracts were tested for their cytotoxic effect on skin cells, using Alamar Blue and Neutral Red tests. The ability to inhibit the activity of enzymes responsible for the destruction of elastin and collagen was also studied. Research has shown that extracts have no toxic effect on skin cells, are a rich source of antioxidants and show the ability to inhibit the activity of elastase and collagenase enzymes. P. rhoeas extract showed the strongest antioxidant properties with IC50 value of 24.8 ± 0.42 µg/mL and 47.5 ± 1.01 µg/mL in ABTS and DPPH tests, respectively. The tested plants are also characterized by an anti-inflammatory property, for which the ability to inhibit lipoxygenase at a level above 80% and proteinase at the level of about 55% was noted. Extracts from P. rhoeas, C. ternatea, and C. tinctorius show the strongest coloring ability and can permanently dye cosmetic products, without significant color changes during the storage of the product.     

Network Bending: Expressive Manipulation of Generative Models in Multiple Domains

This paper presents the network bending framework, a new approach for manipulating and interacting with deep generative models. We present a comprehensive set of deterministic transformations that can be inserted as distinct layers into the computational graph of a trained generative neural network and applied during inference. In addition, we present a novel algorithm for analysing the deep generative model and clustering features based on their spatial activation maps. This allows features to be grouped together based on spatial similarity in an unsupervised fashion. This results in the meaningful manipulation of sets of features that correspond to the generation of a broad array of semantically significant features of the generated results. We outline this framework, demonstrating our results on deep generative models for both image and audio domains. We show how it allows for the direct manipulation of semantically meaningful aspects of the generative process as well as allowing for a broad range of expressive outcomes.