Synthesis of biodegradable thermo- and pH-responsive hydrogels for controlled drug release

Novel intelligent hydrogels composed of biodegradable and pH-sensitive poly(L-glutamic acid) (PGA) and temperature sensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PNH) were synthesized and characterized for controlled release of hydrophilic drug. The influence of pH on the equilibrium swelling ratios of the hydrogels was investigated. A higher PNH content resulted in lower equilibrium swelling ratios. Although temperature had little influence on the swelling behaviors of the hydrogels, the changes of optical transmittance of hydrogels as a function of temperature were marked, which showed that the PNH part of hydrogel exhibited hydrophobic property at temperature above the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). The biodegradation rate of the stimuli-sensitive hydrogels in the presence of enzyme was directly proportional to the PGA content. Lysozyme was chosen as a model drug and loaded into the hydrogels.

两层流体热毛细对流空间实验研究=Space Experiments of Thermo Capillary Convection in Two-liquid Layers

1999年,在我国实践5号卫星上完成了两层流体空间实验,实验研究两层不相混合流体的纯Marangoni对流（温度梯度与界面垂直）与热毛细对流（温度梯度方向与流体界面平行）.前者存在发生Marangoni对流的最小临界温差值△Tc,低于该值流体系统处于静止状态;后者中只要存在沿界面的温度梯度便会产生热毛细对流.空间实验采用石蜡和氟化液两层流体新体系,实现了平整的液-液交界面,并从卫星上传回上万幅数字图像.通过多幅图像叠加处理得到了定量的流速场.数值模拟计算分析了相应工况时对流流动的速度场,两者的流场结构和速度大小基本一致,实验验证了理论模型.

Spallation analysis with a closed trans-scale formulation damage evolution

A closed, trans-scale formulation of damage evolution based on the statistical microdamage mechanics is summarized in this paper. The dynamic function of damage bridges the mesoscopic and macroscopic evolution of damage. The spallation in an aluminium plate is studied with this formulation. It is found that the damage evolution is governed by several dimensionless parameters, i.e., imposed Deborah numbers De* and De, Mach number M and damage number S. In particular, the most critical mode of the macroscopic damage evolution, i.e., the damage localization, is deter-mined by Deborah number De+. Deborah number De* reflects the coupling and competition between the macroscopic loading and the microdamage growth. Therefore, our results reveal the multi-scale nature of spallation. In fact, the damage localization results from the nonlinearity of the microdamage growth. In addition, the dependence of the damage rate on imposed Deborah numbers De* and De, Mach number M and damage number S is discussed.

The thermo-visco-plastic instability analysis of saturated soil

A theoretical analysis of instability of saturated soil is presented considering the simple shearing of a heat conducting thermo-visco-plastic material. It is shown that the instability is mainly the consequence of thermal softening which overcomes the strain hardening and the other type of instability is controlled by strain softening. The effects of other factors such as permeability to the instability are discussed in this paper.

An elastoplastic constitutive relation of whisker-reinforced composite for meso damage: Part I - formulation

An elastoplastic constitutive relation is developed for meso damage of whisker-reinforced composites. A model is constructed that includes orientation distribution of whiskers and slip systems as well as interface and crystal sliding. Evolution of damage will be addressed. Given in Part I is the formulation while examples will be illustrated in Part II.

Statistical formulation and experimental determination of growth rate of micrometre cracks under impact loading

A new statistical formulation and a relevant experimental approach to determine the growth rate of microcracks were proposed. The method consists of experimental measurements and a statistical analysis' on the basis of the conservation law of number density of microcracks in phase space. As a practical example of the method, the growth rate of microcracks appearing in an aluminium alloy subjected to planar impact loading was determined to be ca. 10 mu m/mu s under a tensile stress of 1470 MPa and load duration between 0.26 mu s and 0.80 mu s.

Evolution of thermo-visco-plastic shearing

The paper outlines the study of the evoluation of the thermally assisted visco-plastic shearing. Analytically, numerically and experimentally, it is demonstrated that the whole process of the shear consists of multi-stages. Owing to instability, early uniform unsteady shear deformation would transform into localization and finally a band-like shearing zone forms, which appears to be a quasi-steady dissipative structure. The mechanisms governing the processes are analyzed. Accompanying the shear banding, micro-damage also develops. The microscopic observations reveal the details of the cumulative damage.

Thermo-plastic instability in simple shear

A theoretical description of thermo-plastic instability in simple shear is presented in a system of equations describing plastic deformation, the first law of thermodynamics and Fourier's heat transfer rule. Both mechanical and thermodynamical parameters influence instability and it is shown that two different modes of instability may exist. One of them is dominated by thermal softening and has a characteristic time and length, connected to each other by thermal diffusion.A criterion combining thermal softening, current stress, density, specific heat, work-hardening, thermal conductivity and current strain rate is obtained and practical implications are discussed.

Numerical Analysis of the Effects of Free-Stream Thermo-Chemical State on the Test Model Flow Field in High-Enthalpy Tunnel

The effects of the free-stream thermo-chemical state on the test model flow field in the high-enthalpy tunnel are studied numerically. The properties of the free-stream, which is in thermo-chemical non-equilibrium, are determined by calculating the nozzle flow field. A free-stream with total enthalpy equal to the real one in the tunnel while in thermo-chemical equilibrium is constructed artificially to simulate the natural atmosphere condition. The flow fields over the test models (blunt cone and Apollo command capsule model) under both the non-equilibrium and the virtual equilibrium free-stream conditions are calculated. By comparing the properties including pressure, temperature, species concentration and radiation distributions of these two types of flow fields, the effects of the non-equilibrium state of the free-stream in the high-enthalpy shock tunnel are analyzed.

High Order Multi-Moment Constrained Finite Volume Method. Part I: Basic Formulation

A new high-order finite volume method based on local reconstruction is presented in this paper. The method, so-called the multi-moment constrained finite volume (MCV) method, uses the point values defined within single cell at equally spaced points as the model variables (or unknowns). The time evolution equations used to update the unknowns are derived from a set of constraint conditions imposed on multi kinds of moments, i.e. the cell-averaged value and the point-wise value of the state variable and its derivatives. The finite volume constraint on the cell-average guarantees the numerical conservativeness of the method. Most constraint conditions are imposed on the cell boundaries, where the numerical flux and its derivatives are solved as general Riemann problems. A multi-moment constrained Lagrange interpolation reconstruction for the demanded order of accuracy is constructed over single cell and converts the evolution equations of the moments to those of the unknowns. The presented method provides a general framework to construct efficient schemes of high orders. The basic formulations for hyperbolic conservation laws in 1- and 2D structured grids are detailed with the numerical results of widely used benchmark tests. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A new method of measuring the waveguide dispersion factor and the thermo-optic coefficient of long-period fiber gratings

Based on the Mach-Zehnder effect between the core mode and the cladding modes, the interference fringes are formed by a pair of cascaded long-period fiber gratings (CLPFGs). Theoretical analyses show that the spectral spacing and the wavelength of these fringes are functions of the waveguide dispersion factor gamma, which is a characterizing parameter to LPFG and with theoretical and applicational significance. By measuring the characteristics of the transmission spectra of CLPFGs, the absolute value of gamma can be obtained. At the same time, the thermo-optic coefficient of effective refractive index difference between core and cladding modes, p, can also be obtained by measured the temperature sensitivity of these fringes. In the experiments, \gamma\ and mu were measured by this method to be 0.874 and 4.08 x 10(-5) degreesC(-1), respectively, for LPFGs with period of 450 mum and with a HE14 resonant peak at 1554 nm. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.