Preparation of a Near-Infrared Ray Absorption Film from N-Phenylthiocarbamoyl Chitosan Derivative

We recently observed that the decanoylation of N-phenylthiocarbamoyl chitosan (2) with a mixture of decanoic anhydride and pyridine at 60 °C for 24 h afforded N,N-(decanoyl)phenythiocarbamoyl-/2-isothiocynato chitosan decanoate (3b) rather than the expected product N,N-(decanoyl)phenylthiocarbamoyl chitosan decanoate (3a). This result suggested that some of the N,N-(decanoyl)phenylthiocarmbamoyl groups had been converted to isothiocyanate groups during the decanoylation process. The subsequent reaction of compound 3b with aniline gave N,N-(decanoyl)phenylthiocarbamoyl/N-phenylthiocarbamoyl chitosan decanoate (4) in high yield. A solution of compound 4 in CHCl₃ was then added to a solution of copper decanoate (5) in the same solvent, and the resulting mixture was cast onto a glass plate to give a cast film. The film was annealed at 200 °C in an oven to give a greenish film, which showed good near-infrared absorption characteristic in the range of 800–2200 nm.     

Analysis and optimization of high-power pulse transformer for SXFEL

Longitudinal injection is a promising on-axis injection scheme for diffraction-limited storage rings. In the latest version of the Hefei advanced light source(HALS), both the dynamic aperture and momentum aperture have been optimized. A longitudinal injection scheme was investigated on the HALS using a doublefrequency radio frequency system. To evaluate the injection performance, various errors were considered. A series of tracking simulations were conducted, and the injection efficiency was obtained under different error levels.     

Dynamic Stabilization of DNA Assembly by Using Pyrrole-Imidazole Polyamide

We used N-methylpyrrole (Py)-N-methylimidazole-(Im) polyamide as an exogenous agent to modulate the formation of DNA assemblies at specific double-stranded sequences. The concept was demonstrated on the hybridization chain reaction that forms linear DNA. Through a series of melting curve analyses, we demonstrated that the binding of Py−Im polyamide positively influenced both the HCR initiation and elongation steps. In particular, Py−Im polyamide was found to drastically stabilize the DNA duplex such that its thermal stability approached that of an equivalent hairpin structure. Also, the polyamide served as an anchor between hairpin pairs in the HCR assembly, thus improving the originally weak interstrand stability. We hope that these proof-of-concept results can inspire future use of Py−Im polyamide as a molecular tool to modulate the formation of DNA assemblies.     

Vapor absorption by LiBr aqueous solution in vertical smooth tubes

Heat and mass transfer in a falling film vertical in-tube absorber was studied experimentally with LiBr aqueous solution. The presented results include the effect of solution flow rate, solution subcooling and cooling water temperature on the absorption in a smooth copper tube 16.05 mm I.D. and 400 mm long. The experimental data in the previous report for a 1200-mm-long tube was also re-examined and compared. It was demonstrated by the observation of the flow in the tube that the break down of the liquid film into rivulets leads to deterioration of heat and mass transfer at lower film Reynolds number or in longer tubes. An attempt to evaluate physically acceptable heat and mass transfer coefficients that are defined with estimated temperature and concentration at the vapor–liquid interface was also presented.     

Gap modulation in MCu[Q1−xQ′x]F (M=Ba, Sr; Q, Q′=S, Se, Te) and related materials

BaCuQF (Q=S, Se, Te) materials exhibit band gaps that allow transmission of much of the visible spectrum. BaCuSF is transparent in thin-film form with a band gap of 3.1 eV. Band gap estimates for powders of the solid solution series BaCuS_1−xSe_xF were obtained from wavelength-dependent diffuse-reflectance measurements using an integrating sphere. The band gap can be tuned by the substitution of Se for S to 2.9 eV for BaCuSeF. The decrease scales almost linearly with the increase in the volume of the tetragonal unit cell, which is determined primarily by the expansion of the a lattice parameter; the overall volume increase is 7.0% from x=0 to 1. Further reduction of the band gap is observed in BaCuSe_1−xTe_xF solid solutions, where a unit cell volume increase of 5.5% produces a band gap of 2.7 eV in BaCuSe_0.5Te_0.5F. Powders and films of BaCuSF exhibit strong red luminescence under ultraviolet excitation, which is suppressed by K doping. Additional tuning of band gap and electrical properties (the materials are p-type conductors) can be achieved by replacing Ba with Sr.     

Radiation therapy for stage I-II non-small cell lung cancer in patients aged 75 years and older

Vaccination with peptides that induce a specific immune response is a potential prophylactic or therapeutic strategy against viral infections and tumors. Because of the extensive polymorphism of the HLA loci, synthetic peptide vaccines must consist of a cocktail of peptides that bind specifically to different HLA molecules. Such cocktails should be optimized for the target population as each population has its specific HLA gene frequencies. To achieve maximum population coverage with a minimum number of peptides, information is needed on the ranking of the most frequent HLA phenotypes. We introduce the minimal phenotype panel, which is the smallest combination of HLA antigens selected so that the proportion of individuals in a population that express at least one of the antigens in the panel exceeds a desired minimum value. We developed a method for assembling minimal phenotype panels based on known HLA class I gene frequencies. We give an example based on a set of 2446 well-defined HLA-typed, random, healthy, unrelated, Dutch Caucasoid individuals. In addition, we discuss the possibility of assembling minimal phenotype panels based on two-locus haplotypes, which enables the assembly of phenotype panels from the antigens of both loci.