Synergistic extraction of rare earths using acid-base coupling extractants of calix[4]arene carboxyl derivative and primary amine N1923

Synergistic effect in the extraction of rare earth (RE) metals by the acid-base coupling (ABC) extractants of calix[4]arene carboxyl derivative Bu-t[4]CH2COOH (H(4)A) and primary amine N1923 (RNH2) has been investigated. The extraction of RE was enhanced by the addition of sodium cations into the aqueous phase not only in the extraction system of Bu-t[4]CH2COOH alone but also in the mixture of Bu-t[4]CH2COOH and N1923. The separation factors (SFs) indicating the extraction selectivity of adjacent RE elements became higher in the mixture system.

Effect of crystallization on the lamellar orientation in thin films of symmetric poly(styrene)-b-poly(L-lactide) diblock copolymer

The effect of crystallization on the lamellar orientation of poly( styrene)-b-poly(L-lactide) (PS-PLLA) semicrystalline diblock copolymer in thin films has been investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In the melt state, microphase separation leads to a symmetric wetting structure with PLLA blocks located at both polymer/substrate and polymer/air interfaces. The lamellar period is equal to the long period L in bulk determined by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). Symmetric wetting structure formed in the melt state provides a model structure to study the crystallization of PLLA monolayer tethered on glassy (T-c < T-g,T-PS) or rubber (T-c > T-g,T-PS) PS substrate. In both cases, it is found that the crystallization of PLLA results in a "sandwich" structure with amorphous PS layer located at both folding surfaces. For T-c <= T-g,T- PS, the crystallization induces a transition of the lamellar orientation from parallel to perpendicular to substrate in between and front of the crystals. In addition, the depletion of materials around the crystals leads to the formation of holes of 1/2 L, leaving the adsorbed monolayer exposure at the bottom of the holes.

Crystallization of weakly segregated poly(styrene-b-epsilon-caprolactone) diblock copolymer in thin films

The surface morphology and crystallization behavior of a weakly segregated symmetric diblock copolymer, poly(styrene-b-6-caprolactone) (PS-b-PCL), in thin films were investigated by optical microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). When the samples were annealed in the molten state, surface-induced ordering, that is, relief structures with uniform thickness or droplets in the adsorbed monolayer, were observed depending on the annealing temperature. The polar PCL block preferred to wet the surface of a silicon wafer, while the PS block wet the air interface. This asymmetric wetting behavior led to the adsorbed monolayer with a PCL block layer having a thickness of around 4.0 nm. The crystallization of PCL blocks could overwhelm the microphase-separated structure because of the weak segregation. In situ observation of crystal growth indicated that the nucleation process preferred to occur at the edge of the thick parts of the film, that is, the relief structures or droplets. The crystal growth rate was presented by the time dependence of the distance between the tip of crystal clusters and the edge. At 22 and 17 degreesC, the average crystal growth rates were 55 +/- 10 and 18 +/- 4 nm/min, respectively.

Self-assembly of star block copolymers by dynamic density functional theory

The dynamic mean-field density functional method, driven from the generalized time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation, was applied to the mesoscopic dynamics of the multi-arms star block copolymer melts in two-dimensional lattice model. The implicit Gaussian density functional expression of a multi-arms star block copolymer chain for the intrinsic chemical potentials was constructed for the first time. Extension of this calculation strategy to more complex systems, such as hyperbranched copolymer or dendrimer, should be straightforward. The original application of this method to 3-arms block copolymer melts in our present works led to some novel ordered microphase patterns, such as hexagonal (HEX) honeycomb lattice, core-shell HEX lattice, knitting pattern, etc. The observed core-shell HEX lattice ordered structure is qualitatively in agreement with the experiment of Thomas [Macromolecules 31, 5272 (1998)].

High PL quantum efficiency of poly(phenylene vinylene) systems through exciton confinement

Photoluminescence (PL) quantum efficiency is a key issue in designing successful light-emitting polymer systems. Exciton relaxation is strongly affected by exciton quenching at nonradiative trapping centers and the formation of excimers. These factors reduce the PL quantum yield of light-emitting polymers. In this work, we have systematically investigated the effects of exciton confinement on the PL quantum yield of an oligomer, polymer, and alternating block copolymer (ABC) PPV system. Time-resolved and temperature-dependent luminescence studies have been performed. The ABC design effectively confine photoexcitations within the chromophores, preventing exciton migration and excimer formation. An unusually high (PL) quantum yield (above 90%) in the solid state is reported for the alternating block copolymer PPV, as compared to that of similar to 30% of the polymer and oligomer model compounds. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Sequence analysis of Arthrospira maxima based on fosmid library

Arthrospira (Spirulina) (Setchell& Gardner) is an important cyanobacterium not only in its nutritional potential but in its special biological characteristics. An unbiased fosmid library of Arthrospira maxima FACHB438 that contains 4300 clones was constructed. The size distribution of insert fragments is from 15.5 to 48.9 kb and the average size is 37.6 kb. The recombination frequency is 100%. Therefore the library is 29.9 equivalents to the Arthrospira genome size of 5.4 Mb. A total of 719 sample clones were randomly chosen from the library and 602 available sequences, which consisted of 307,547 bases, covering 5.70% of the whole genome. The codon usage of A. maxima was not strongly biased. GC content at the first position of codons (46.9%) was higher than the second (39.8%) and the third (45.5%) positions. GC content of the genome was 43.6%. Of these sequences, 287 (47.7%) showed high similarities to known genes, 63 (10.5%) to hypothetical genes and the remaining 252 (41.8%) had no significant similarities. The assigned genes were classified into 22 categories with respect to different biological roles. Remarkably, the high presence of 25 sequences (4.2%) encoding reverse transcriptase indicates the RT gene may have multiple copies in the A. maxima genome and might play an important role in the evolutionary history and metabolic regulation. In addition, the sequences encoding the ATP-binding cassette transport system and the two-component signal transduction system were the second and third most frequent genes, respectively. These genomic features provide some clues as to the mechanisms by which this organism adapts to the high concentration of bicarbonate and to the high pH environment.

东海北部鱼类群落多样性和结构特征变化研究

在海洋渔业资源不断衰退的今天，渔业资源管理正经历着由单种和多种资源管理向生态系统水平管理的转变。开展在各种干扰因素影响下鱼类群落演替方向的研究是引入基于生态系统渔业管理策略的必要环节，本文以东海北部海域鱼类群落为研究对象，对其近十几年来结构和功能的变化趋势进行分析，以期今后为渔业资源的科学管理提供理论基础。 捕捞是引起鱼类群落结构变化的最为重要的因素，本研究首先就捕捞对鱼类群落影响的国内外研究方法进行了综述与归纳。在研究捕捞对鱼类群落的影响时，所选用的群落参数指标应符合预期性、可测性、敏感性和排他性标准，业已利用的研究方法大致可为生物多样性、聚合特征指标、群落功能性指标、多元分析以及生态系统模型五大类。各研究方法单独使用均无法全面反映群落的结构变化状况，建议在实际研究过程中同时使用多种研究方法进行鱼类群落结构的变化分析，以期全面掌握捕捞活动影响下鱼类群落结构的变动状况，更好地为渔业资源的科学管理提供理论支撑。 根据1991年1月和2004～2006年1月东海北部水域渔业资源底拖网调查资料，从物种和同功能种团两个层面分析了东海北部鱼类群落多样性及其结构组成特征的变化。同功能种团是生态系统中起着相似生态作用、并占据相近或相似生态位的若干物种集合体，本文结合各鱼种的摄食习性和活动能力差异，将该水域内的鱼类划分为8个同功能种团，分别为浮游动物食性种团、浮游/底栖动物食性种团、底栖动物食性种团、底栖/游泳动物食性种团、杂食性种团、活动能力强的游泳动物食性种团、软骨鱼类种团、活动能力弱的游泳动物食性种团。研究结果显示：东海北部冬季鱼类群落的物种多样性和同功能种团多样性呈显著线性正相关。经过十余年后，尽管该群落的物种多样性和同功能种团多样性均未发生显著变化，但各同功能种团内的物种数发生了明显变化，物种多样性与同功能种团多样性之间的关系曲线斜率由0.547增加到0.627，群落的生态冗余性有所降低。相似性分析检验表明，两时段群落间的物种和同功能种团结构组成均发生了显著变化，带鱼、龙头鱼、小黄鱼、黄鲫、灰鲳等物种和软骨鱼类种团、浮游/底栖动物食性种团相对量的变化是造成鱼类群落结构变化的主要因素。鱼类群落结构已显现出向以浮游动物食性和活动能力强的游泳动物食性鱼种为主体的方向发展的趋势。 最后本研究对实施伏季休渔以后近十年来东海北部鱼类群落的动态进行了分析。研究表明：实施伏休以后部分物种得到一定程度的恢复，而另些物种在伏休结束后强大的捕捞压力下仍然不断衰退，群落的物种生物量组成正朝一定的方向进行变化，但是这种变化并没有给鱼类群落带来稳定性和功能性方面的好转，群落仍处于中度干扰状态，物种多样性没有得到显著提高；群落的生产力水平以及营养传递效率没有恢复的迹象。每年伏休结束后强大的捕捞压力使伏季休渔没有达到预期的效果。为更有效的保护渔业资源、恢复东海北部生态系统，建议继续加大管理力度，进一步降低该海域的捕捞强度。

Community structure of macrobenthos in coastal water off Rushan, southern Shandong Peninsula, and the relationships with environmental factors

To understand the present actuality of the marine ecosystem in the southern coastal water region of the Shandong Peninsula and the impact of the global change and the human activities to the marine ecosystem of the region, the macrobenthic community structure was researched based on data from 26 sampling stations carried out on four seasonal cruises from December 2006 to November 2007. The data was analyzed using PRIMER 6.0 and SPSS 15.0 software packages. The results showed that 236 macrobenthic species in total were collected from the research region by the field works. Most of the species belong to Polychaeta (76 species), Mollusca (75) and Crustacea (60). Of which, 33 species were common species by the four cruises. The dominant species were different among the four seasons, however, the polychaete species Nephtys oligobranchia and Sternaspis scutata were always dominant in the four seasons. The abundances and biomasses of the macrobenthos from the research region were variable in tire four seasons. The results of CLUSTER and MDS analysis showed that the similarities of macrobenthic structures among the stations were low, most of the similarities were at about 40% of similarity values, only that of two stations were up to 60%. In accordance with the similarity values of the macrobenthic structures, the 26 stations were clustered as six groups at arbitrary similarity level of 30%. The ABC curve indicated that the marcofauna communities in the research region had riot been disturbed distinctly. The results of BIOENV and BVSTEP (Spearman) analysis implied that the concentrations of organic matter in bottom water and heavy metal copper in sediment, water depth and temperature of bottom were the most significant environmental factors to affect the macrobentic community.

An in silico approach for screening flavonoids as P-glycoprotein inhibitors based on a Bayesian-regularized neural network

P-glycoprotein (P-gp), an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, functions as a biological barrier by extruding cytotoxic agents out of cells, resulting in an obstacle in chemotherapeutic treatment of cancer. In order to aid in the development of potential P-gp inhibitors, we constructed a quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) model of flavonoids as P-gp inhibitors based on Bayesian-regularized neural network (BRNN). A dataset of 57 flavonoids collected from a literature binding to the C-terminal nucleotide-binding domain of mouse P-gp was compiled. The predictive ability of the model was assessed using a test set that was independent of the training set, which showed a standard error of prediction of 0.146 +/- 0.006 (data scaled from 0 to 1). Meanwhile, two other mathematical tools, back-propagation neural network (BPNN) and partial least squares (PLS) were also attempted to build QSAR models. The BRNN provided slightly better results for the test set compared to BPNN, but the difference was not significant according to F-statistic at p = 0.05. The PLS failed to build a reliable model in the present study. Our study indicates that the BRNN-based in silico model has good potential in facilitating the prediction of P-gp flavonoid inhibitors and might be applied in further drug design.