Synthesis of self‐healing polyurethane urea‐based supramolecular materials

Supramolecular polyurethane ureas are expected to have superior mechanical properties primarily due to the reversible, noncovalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding interactions. We synthesized polyurethane prepolymers from small molecular weight of poly(tetramethylene ether)glycol and isophorone diisocyanates, which were end capped with propylamine to synthesize polyurethane ureas with high contents of urea and urethane groups for hydrogen‐bonding formations to facilitate self‐healing. The effects of polyurethane urea molecular weight (3000 ≤ M_n ≤ 9000), crosslinking, and cutting direction were studied in terms of thermal, mechanical, and morphological properties with an emphasis on the self‐healing efficiency. It was found that the thermal self‐healability was more pronounced as the molecular weight of polyurethane urea decreased, showing a maximum of more than 96% with 3000 M_n when the sample was cut along the stretch direction. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2015 , 53, 468–474     

Solid‐state 31P NMR investigation on the status of guanine nucleotides in paclitaxel‐stabilized microtubules

Microtubule dynamics is a target for many chemotherapeutic drugs. In order to understand the biochemical effects of paclitaxel on the GTPase activity of tubulin, the status of guanine nucleotides in microtubules was investigated by ³¹P cross‐polarization magic angle spinning (CPMAS) NMR. Microtubules were freshly prepared in vitro in the presence of paclitaxel and then lyophilized in sucrose buffer for solid‐state NMR experiments. A ³¹P CPMAS NMR spectrum with the SNR of 25 was successfully acquired from the lyophilized microtubule sample. The broadness of the ³¹P spectral lines in the spectrum indicates that the molecular environments around the guanine nucleotides inside tubulin may not be as crystalline as reported by many diffraction studies. Deconvolution of the spectrum into four spectral components was carried out in comparison with the ³¹P NMR spectra obtained from five control samples. The spectral analysis suggested that about 13% of the nucleotides were present as GTP and 37% as GDP in the β‐tubulin (E‐site) of the microtubules. It was found that most of the GDPs were present as GDP‐P_i complex in the microtubules, which seems to be one of the effects of paclitaxel binding. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sparse polynomials, redundant bases, gauss periods, and efficient exponentiation of primitive elements for small characteristic finite fields

Gauss periods give an exponentiation algorithm that is fast for many finite fields but slow for many other fields. The current paper presents a different method for construction of elements that yield a fast exponentiation algorithm for finite fields where the Gauss period method is slow or does not work. The basic idea is to use elements of low multiplicative order and search for primitive elements that are binomial or trinomial of these elements. Computational experiments indicate that such primitive elements exist, and it is shown that they can be exponentiated fast.     

On the option valuation and decomposition of exchange option

In this paper, we shall find the uniquerational price associated with the exchange option. Also, we find the decomposition of Snell envelope and value function of the American exchange option.     

Efficient microwave induced direct α-halogenation of carbonyl compounds

A novel and direct method for the synthesis of α-halocarbonyl compounds using sequential treatment of carbonyl compounds with [hydroxy(tosyloxy)iodo]benzene followed by magnesium halides under solvent-free microwave irradiation conditions is described.     

A parallel cell‐based DSMC method on unstructured adaptive meshes

A parallel DSMC method based on a cell‐based data structure is developed for the efficient simulation of rarefied gas flows on PC‐clusters. Parallel computation is made by decomposing the computational domain into several subdomains. Dynamic load balancing between processors is achieved based on the number of simulation particles and the number of cells allocated in each subdomain. Adjustment of cell size is also made through mesh adaptation for the improvement of solution accuracy and the efficient usage of meshes. Applications were made for a two‐dimensional supersonic leading‐edge flow, the axi‐symmetric Rothe's nozzle, and the open hollow cylinder flare flow for validation. It was found that the present method is an efficient tool for the simulation of rarefied gas flows on PC‐based parallel machines. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Least‐squares meshfree method for incompressible Navier–Stokes problems

A least‐squares meshfree method based on the first‐order velocity–pressure–vorticity formulation for two‐dimensional incompressible Navier–Stokes problem is presented. The convective term is linearized by successive substitution or Newton's method. The discretization of all governing equations is implemented by the least‐squares method. Equal‐order moving least‐squares approximation is employed with Gauss quadrature in the background cells. The boundary conditions are enforced by the penalty method. The matrix‐free element‐by‐element Jacobi preconditioned conjugate method is applied to solve the discretized linear systems. Cavity flow for steady Navier–Stokes problem and the flow over a square obstacle for time‐dependent Navier–Stokes problem are investigated for the presented least‐squares meshfree method. The effects of inaccurate integration on the accuracy of the solution are investigated. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intramolecular energy transferable (2,2‐diphenylvinyl)phenyl substituted poly(p‐phenylenevinylene) derivative with efficient photoluminescence and electroluminescence

A poly(p‐phenylenevinylene) (PPV) derivative containing a bulky (2,2‐diphenylvinyl)phenyl group in the side chain, EHDVP‐PPV, was synthesized by Gilch route. The reduced tolane‐bisbenzyl (TBB) defects, as well as the structure of the polymer, was confirmed by various spectroscopic methods. The intramolecular energy transfer from the (2,2‐diphenylvinyl)phenyl side group to the PPV backbone was studied by UV‐vis and photoluminescence (PL) of the obtained polymer and model compound. The polymer film showed maximum absorption and emission peaks at 454 and 546 nm, respectively, and high PL efficiency of 57%. A yellow electroluminescence (λ_max = 548 nm) was obtained with intensities of 6479 cd/m² when the light‐emitting diodes of ITO/PEDOT/EHDVP‐PPV/LiF/Al were fabricated. The maximum power efficiency of the devices was 0.729 lm/W with a turn‐on voltage of 3.6 V. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5636–5646, 2004