achieving on-time delivery: a two-stage probabilistic scheduling strategy for software projects

Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISCAS)

Strategy for analysis and screening of bioactive compounds in traditional Chinese medicines

Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), due to their long time clinic test and reliable therapeutic efficacy, are attracting increased global attention served as excellent pools of bioactive compounds for the discovery of new drugs. However, hundreds or even thousands of components are usually contained in traditional Chinese medicines and only a few compounds are responsible for the pharmaceutical and/or toxic effects. The large numbers of other components in traditional Chinese medicines make the screening and analysis of the bioactive components extremely difficult. By the way, the combination effect of bioactive components on the pharmacological activity makes it very difficult to clear the therapeutic mechanism of TCMs. Therefore, some strategies have to design for screening of bioactive compounds in traditional Chinese medicines, which further leads to disclose the therapeutic mechanism of TCMs in molecular level. The review will summarize the present state of the art of screening strategy for active compounds in traditional Chinese medicines, and the chromatography methods for screening and analysis of bioactive compounds in traditional Chinese medicines will be emphasized. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Morphological Adaptations to Drought and Reproductive Strategy of the Moss Syntrichia caninervis in the Gurbantunggut Desert, China

The biological soil crusts (BSCs) in the Gurbantunggut Desert, the largest fixed and semi-fixed desert in China, feature moss-dominated BSCs, which play an indispensable role in sand fixation. Syntrichia caninervis Mitt. (S. caninervis) serves as one of the most common species in BSCs in the desert. In this study we examined the morphological structure of S. caninervis from leafy gametophyte to protonema using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We also examined the relationships between the morphological structure of S. caninervis and environmental factors. We found that: (1) this moss species is commonly tufted on the sand surface, and its leaves are folded upwards and twisted around the stem under dry conditions; (2) the cells on both upper and lower leaf surfaces have C-shaped dark papillae, which may reflect sunlight to reduce the damage from high temperature; (3) the leaf costa is excurrent, forming an awn with forked teeth; and (4) the protonema cells are small and thickset with thick cell walls and the cytoplasm is highly concentrated with a small vacuole. In addition, we also found that the protonema cells always form pouches on the tip of the mother cells during the process of cell polarization. Our results suggest that S. caninervis has, through its life cycle, several morphological and structural characteristics to adapt to dry environmental conditions. These morphological features of S. caninervis may also be found in other deserts in the world due to the world-wide distribution of the species.

A strategy for synthesis of ion-bonded supramolecular star polymers by reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization

We have developed a novel strategy for the preparation of ion-bonded supramolecular star polymers by RAFT polymerization. An ion-bonded star supramolecule with six functional groups was prepared from a triphenylene derivative containing tertiary amino groups and trithiocarbonate carboxylic acid, and used as the RAFT agent in polymerizations of tert-butyl acrylate (tBA) and styrene (St). Molecular weights and structures of the polymers were characterized by H-1 NMR and GPC. The results show that the polymerization possesses the character of living free-radical polymerization and the ion-bonded supramolecular star polymers PSt, PtBA, and PSt-b-PtBA, with six well-defined arms, were successfully synthesized.

A strategy for synthesis of ion-bonded amphiphilic miktoarm star copolymers via supramolecular macro-RAFT agent

Amphiphilic supramolecular miktoarm star copolymers linked by ionic bonds with controlled molecular weight and low polydispersity have been successfully synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization using an ion-bonded macromolecular RAFT agent (macro-RAFT agent). Firstly, a new tetrafunctional initiator, dimethyl 4,6-bis(bromomethyl)-isophthalate, was synthesized and used as an initiator for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene to form polystyrene (PSt) containing two ester groups at the middle of polymer chain. Then, the ester groups were converted into tertiary amino groups and the ion-bonded supramolecular macro-RAFT agent was obtained through the interaction between the tertiary amino group and 2-dodecylsulfanylthiocarbonylsulfanyl-2-methyl propionic acid (DMP). Finally, ion-bonded amphiphilic miktoarm star copolymer, (PSt)(2)-poly(N-isopropyl-acrylamide)(2), was prepared by RAFT polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) in the presence of the supramolecular macro-RAFT agent. The polymerization kinetics was investigated and the molecular weight and the architecture of the resulting star polymers were characterized by means of H-1-NMR, FTIR, and GPC techniques. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Small-molecule-directed assembly: A gold nanoparticle-based strategy for screening of homo-adenine DNA duplex binders

By using AuNP-modified homo-adenine DNA conjugate as a model system, simple colorimetric and resonance Rayleigh scattering assays have been developed for screening small molecules that trigger the formation of the non-Watson-Crick homo-adenine duplexes. The assay presented here is more simplified in format as it involves only one type of ssDNA modified Au-NP, and can be easily adapted to high-throughput screening.

A strategy to prepare ultrafine dispersed Fe2O3 nanoparticles

In this article, a novel strategy was applied to prepare dispersed ultrafine alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles. The initial Fe(OH)(3) nanoparticles were synthesized by the reaction of NaOH and FeCl3 in alcohol. With the new-formed nanoparticles as nuclei, NaCl crystallized and encapsulated the particles into solid cages. As a result, the nanoparticles were prevented from aggregating and growing. The composite of Fe(OH)(3) and NaCl was calcined and then washed by water to obtain the pure alpha-Fe2O3 nanoparticles.

Electrochemiluminescence detection based on Ruthenium(II) tris(bipyridine) immobilised in sulfonic-functionalised titania nanoparticles by ion exchange strategy

A novel Ruthenium(II) tris(bipyridine)-based solid-state electrochemiluminescence (ECL) sensor was developed in this paper. The sensor was fabricated by immobilising tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) (Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)) in sulfonic-functionalised porous titania (TiO2-SO3H) nanoparticles via an ion exchange strategy, followed by employing environment friendly and stable biopolymer chitosan (CHIT) to entrap Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)/TiO2-SO3H onto the ITO electrode.

A strategy of fabricating exfoliated thermoplastic polyurethane/clay nanocomposites via introducing maleated polypropylene

By reducing the attraction between the platelets of octaclecylammonium chloride modified montmorillonite (OMMT-C18) via pre-intercalation of maleated polypropylene (MAPP), OMMT-C18 was exfoliated in thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) matrix during melt-mixing. Wide angle X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis were used to investigate the microstructure of TPU nanocomposites. Three factors (including introducing sequence, the kind and the content of MAPP) showed important effects on the dispersion degree of OMMT-C18 in TPU matrix. The results confirmed that the pre-intercalation of MAPP was necessary for the exfoliation of OMMT-C18; however, the role of MAPP in TPU nanocomposites was different from that in polypropylene nanocomposites.

An Engineering-Purpose Preparation Strategy for Ammonium-Type Ionic Liquid with High Purity

A new strategy for preparing ammonium-type ionic liquid (IL) by acid/base neutralization reaction was proposed. The method contributed to preparing hydroxide-based ammonium IL and resulting task specific ionic liquid (TSIL) with high purity using a low-costly and environment-friendly synthetic. route. Halide contamination in the prepared ILs could be markedly decreased than those prepared by well-established anion metathesis method. Moreover, some novel TSILs composed of cations and anions with big steric hindrances could be prepared by this method. Physicochemical properties of the bifunctional TSILs, i.e., density, water content, decomposition temperature, and munal solubility, were also studied in this article.