Dual-responsive shape memory hydrogels with self-healing and dual-responsive swelling behaviors

Shape memory hydrogels (SMHs) can fix the hydrogels in a provisional shape and restore the initial shape under external stimulation. Herein, a dual-responsive shape memory hydrogel with dual-responsive swelling and self-healing properties is presented in this work. The SMHs were fabricated by one-step emulsion copolymerization of acrylic acid (AAc), acrylamide (AAm) and stearyl methacrylate (SMA). Sodium alginate (SA) was introduced as an interpenetrating polymer in the network. With ionic cross-linking between -COO⁻ and Fe³⁺ or saline-reinforced hydrophobic association, the hydrogels can be fixed in a provisional shape, which can be restored by immersing the hydrogels in vitamin C solution or pure water, respectively. When the as-prepared hydrogels were immersed in FeCl₃ solutions, additional ionic cross-linking between Fe³⁺ and -COO⁻ could be formed, thus constructing the dual physically cross-linked (DPC) network, which endows the hydrogels with excellent fracture stress (2.6 MPa) and toughness (5.47 MJ/m³). Besides, the reversible physical cross-linkings endowed the hydrogel with outstanding self-healing capability. Furthermore, the pH and saline responsive swelling properties of the SMHs are additional fantastic properties. Therefore, we believe that this simple strategy provides a great opportunity for the preparation of SMHs with multiple intellectual performances.     

Antibacterial activity and mechanism of piperazine polymer

Piperazine polymers poly(ethylenediaminetetraacetic dianhydride-co-piperazine) (PE) and MGF-Ct24E-modified poly(ethylenediaminetetraacetic dianhydride-co-piperazine) (PEM) showed good antibacterial activity. Considering their different applications, the effects of time, pH, and inoculation concentration of these antibacterials against Escherichia coli (E. coli) in unique environments were evaluated in this study. The results indicated that the MIC and MBC values of the polymers increased after the introduction of MGF-Ct24E into PE, but the two types of polymers still exhibited good antibacterial activity in a short time period under acidic conditions. In addition, we investigated the effect of the piperazine polymers on bacterial cell structure. It was clear that PE and PEM could destroy the bacterial cell wall, cell membrane and DNA, and their specific mechanism may be different. For PE, its carboxyl group could react with peptidoglycans on the E.coli cell wall to form holes on the bacterial surface, allowing PE to penetrate into the bacterial cell to damage DNA. For PEM, the alkaline MGF-Ct24E could adsorb E.coli and make it shrink, meanwhile, the PE component created small holes on the bacterial walls and membranes, and inserted into the bacteria to result in bactericidal effect. These findings reveal the potential usefulness of PE and PEM in biomedical applications.     

天然橡胶生物合成分子调控机制的研究进展

天然橡胶(NR)生物合成的精确调控机制解析是尚未攻克的重要理论问题。综述产胶植物基因组和NR生物合成过程相关基因的调控机制,重点阐述小橡胶粒子蛋白质基因在产胶植物的橡胶合成过程中作用的研究进展,为NR生物合成分子机制以及分子育种研究提供理论参考。指出NR生物合成调控机制的研究与收获技术和提取工艺技术相结合,有助于解析产胶植物的NR合成机制和提高其产胶量。     

液压缸综合试验台测控系统的研制

为控制液压缸产品质量，开发了精度高、功能全的液压缸综合试验台。本文介绍了液压缸试验台的工作原理，并运用MATLAB对被测缸液压系统进行了动态仿真；同时简单阐述了测控系统的硬件设计和软件开发；试验证明该试验台工作可靠，性能良好，可广泛应用于各种型号的液压缸的检验。     

直控电反馈式微流量海水比例压力阀及其应用系统研究

针对海水介质的特点，研制了一种直控电反馈式微小流量海水比例压力阀，对其进行了理论分析。将该阀应用在深海极端环境模拟系统中，并进行了实验研究。结果表明：该阀的调压范围、调压精度均满足设计要求，并具有较好的静、动态特性。     

Infra-chromatic bound for exact maximum clique search

Many efficient exact branch and bound maximum clique solvers use approximate coloring to compute an upper bound on the clique number for every subproblem. This technique reasonably promises tight bounds on average, but never tighter than the chromatic number of the graph.Li and Quan, 2010, AAAI Conference, p. 128–133 describe a way to compute even tighter bounds by reducing each colored subproblem to maximum satisfiability problem (MaxSAT). Moreover they show empirically that the new bounds obtained may be lower than the chromatic number.Based on this idea this paper shows an efficient way to compute related “infra-chromatic” upper bounds without an explicit MaxSAT encoding. The reported results show some of the best times for a stand-alone computer over a number of instances from standard benchmarks.     

Development of a noise prediction software NASEFA and its application in medium-to-high frequency ranges

For the analysis of noise problems in medium-to-high frequency ranges, the energy flow boundary element method (EFBEM) has been studied. EFBEM is numerical analysis method of energy flow analysis (EFA), and solves energy governing equations using a boundary element method in complex structures. Based on EFBEM, a noise prediction software, “noise analysis system by energy flow analysis” (NASEFA), was developed. For effective maintenance, NASEFA is composed of three main modules: the translator, the model converter, and the main solver. The translator changes the FE model to the NASEFA BE model, and the model converter changes the BE model to an EFBE model, including various data, such as structural materials, medium properties, sources, and boundary conditions. NASEFA then solves the acoustic energy density and intensity on boundary and in the field. Moreover, it analyzes interior and exterior noise problems for single and multiple domains in two and three dimensions. Finally, for the validation of the software developed, interior and exterior noise predictions of various structures were performed. The results obtained with NASEFA were compared with those of the commercial SEA program and experiment. From these comparative studies, the usefulness of NASEFA was established.     

A detection problem: Sensitivity and uncertainty analysis of a land surface temperature approach to detecting dynamics of water use by groundwater-dependent vegetation

Sustainable management of groundwater-dependent vegetation (GDV) requires the accurate identification of GDVs, characterisation of their water use dynamics and an understanding of associated errors. This paper presents sensitivity and uncertainty analyses of one GDV mapping method which uses temperature differences between time-series of modelled and observed land surface temperature (LST) to detect groundwater use by vegetation in a subtropical woodland. Uncertainty in modelled LST was quantified using the Jacobian method with error variances obtained from literature. Groundwater use was inferred where modelled and observed LST were significantly different using a Student's t-test. Modelled LST was most sensitive to low-range wind speeds (<1.5 m s⁻¹), low-range vegetation height (<=0.5 m), and low-range leaf area index (<=0.5 m² m⁻²), limiting the detectability of groundwater use by vegetation under such conditions. The model-data approach was well-suited to detection of GDV because model-data errors were lowest for climatic conditions conducive to groundwater use.     

A dimension map for molecular aggregates

A pair of gyradius ratios, defined from the principal radii of gyration, are used to generate a dimension map that describes the geometry of molecular aggregates in water and in organic solvents. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed on the aggregation of representative biomolecules and polyaromatic compounds to demonstrate application of the dimension map. It was shown that molecular aggregate data on the dimension map were bounded by two boundary curves, and that the map could be separated into three regions representing three groups of structures: one-dimensional rod-like structures; two-dimensional planar structures or short-cylinder-like structures; and three-dimensional sphere-like structures. Examining the location of the aggregates on the dimension map and how the location changes with solvent type and solute material parameter provides a simple yet effective way to infer the aggregation manner and to study solubility and mechanism of aggregation.