The pursuit of academic excellence and business engagement: Is it irreconcilable?

Universities currently need to satisfy the demands of different audiences. In light of the increasing policy emphasis on "third mission" activities, universities are attempting to incorporate these into their traditional missions of teaching and research. University strategies to accomplishing its traditional missions are well-honed and routinized, but the incorporation of the third mission is posing important strategic and managerial challenges for universities. This study explores the relationship between university-business collaborations and academic excellence in order to examine the extent to which academic institutions can balance these objectives. Based on data from the UK Research Assessment Exercise 2001 at the level of the university department, we find no systematic positive or negative relationship between scientific excellence and engagement with industry. Across the disciplinary fields reported in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (i. e. engineering, hard sciences, biomedicine, social sciences and the humanities) the relationship between academic excellence and engagement with business is largely contingent on the institutional context of the university department. This paper adds to the growing body of literature on university engagement with business by examining this activity for the social sciences and the humanities. Our findings have important implications for the strategic management of university departments and for higher education policy related to measuring the performance of higher education research institutions. © 2013 Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary.

A literature and practice review to develop sustainable business model archetypes

Eco-innovations, eco-efficiency and corporate social responsibility practices define much of the current industrial sustainability agenda. While important, they are insufficient in themselves to deliver the holistic changes necessary to achieve long-term social and environmental sustainability. How can we encourage corporate innovation that significantly changes the way companies operate to ensure greater sustainability? Sustainable business models (SBM) incorporate a triple bottom line approach and consider a wide range of stakeholder interests, including environment and society. They are important in driving and implementing corporate innovation for sustainability, can help embed sustainability into business purpose and processes, and serve as a key driver of competitive advantage. Many innovative approaches may contribute to delivering sustainability through business models, but have not been collated under a unifying theme of business model innovation. The literature and business practice review has identified a wide range of examples of mechanisms and solutions that can contribute to business model innovation for sustainability. The examples were collated and analysed to identify defining patterns and attributes that might facilitate categorisation. Sustainable business model archetypes are introduced to describe groupings of mechanisms and solutions that may contribute to building up the business model for sustainability. The aim of these archetypes is to develop a common language that can be used to accelerate the development of sustainable business models in research and practice. The archetypes are: Maximise material and energy efficiency; Create value from 'waste'; Substitute with renewables and natural processes; Deliver functionality rather than ownership; Adopt a stewardship role; Encourage sufficiency; Re-purpose the business for society/environment; and Develop scale-up solutions. © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Heavy metals in plants and phytoremediation - A state-of-the-art report with special reference to literature published in Chinese journals

Goal, Scope and Background. In some cases, soil, water and food are heavily polluted by heavy metals in China. To use plants to remediate heavy metal pollution would be an effective technique in pollution control. The accumulation of heavy metals in plants and the role of plants in removing pollutants should be understood in order to implement phytoremediation, which makes use of plants to extract, transfer and stabilize heavy metals from soil and water. Methods. The information has been compiled from Chinese publications stemming mostly from the last decade, to show the research results on heavy metals in plants and the role of plants in controlling heavy metal pollution, and to provide a general outlook of phytoremediation in China. Related references from scientific journals and university journals are searched and summarized in sections concerning the accumulation of heavy metals in plants, plants for heavy metal purification and phytoremediation techniques. Results and Discussion. Plants can take up heavy metals by their roots, or even via their stems and leaves, and accumulate them in their organs. Plants take up elements selectively. Accumulation and distribution of heavy metals in the plant depends on the plant species, element species, chemical and bioavailiability, redox, pH, cation exchange capacity, dissolved oxygen, temperature and secretion of roots. Plants are employed in the decontamination of heavy metals from polluted water and have demonstrated high performances in treating mineral tailing water and industrial effluents. The purification capacity of heavy metals by plants are affected by several factors, such as the concentration of the heavy metals, species of elements, plant species, exposure duration, temperature and pH. Conclusions. Phytoremediation, which makes use of vegetation to remove, detoxify, or stabilize persistent pollutants, is a green and environmentally-friendly tool for cleaning polluted soil and water. The advantage of high biomass productive and easy disposal makes plants most useful to remediate heavy metals on site. Recommendations and Outlook. Based on knowledge of the heavy metal accumulation in plants, it is possible to select those species of crops and pasturage herbs, which accumulate fewer heavy metals, for food cultivation and fodder for animals; and to select those hyperaccumulation species for extracting heavy metals from soil and water. Studies on the mechanisms and application of hyperaccumulation are necessary in China for developing phytoremediation.

低极性化合物的电喷雾质谱检测方法及几种中藏药材的活性成分研究

本学位论文首先报道了为解决低极性化合物的电喷雾质谱（ESI-MS）分析难题而建立的一种衍生化分析方法；然后从色谱-质谱联用分析、分离纯化和结构鉴定等方面分别报道了几种中藏药材的活性成分研究。论文由下述六章组成： 第一章报道了盐酸羟胺衍生化方法在电喷雾质谱 (ESI-MS) 分析中的应用。该方法利用盐酸羟胺和羰基成肟的快速反应，建立了针对三萜酮等含酮或醛羰基低极性化合物的ESI-MS 信号增强技术。此方法不仅可应用于增强羰基化合物的ESI-MS 质谱信号，还可检测化合物中羰基的个数以及辨别涉及羰基官能团的同分异构体。此外，通过简单的氧化反应，还可将该方法拓展到三萜醇、甾醇等含羟基的低极性化合物，增强它们的ESI-MS 信号。对比已报道的相关ESI-MS 增强质谱信号的衍生化方法，此方法有经济、实用、快速和简便的显著特点。 第二章是关于野生羌活及其栽培品种化学成分的色谱-质谱联用分析。对不同产地野生羌活生长过程中活性成分的动态变化、野生羌活不同形态部位和人工栽培羌活中的活性成分含量进行了HPLC 定量分析。结果表明主要活性成分羌活醇和异欧前胡素都随生长期存在规律性变化，羌活不同形态部位中的活性成分含量也有明显不同。这些实验结果有些较好地印证了传统中医的用药理论，有些也对羌活的传统使用方法提出了新的建议。 第三章介绍了几种传统中藏药材的色谱-质谱联用及串联质谱分析。通过GC-MS 方法，从藏药材长花党参挥发油中共分离鉴定出45 个化合物；利用HPLC方法测定了该藏药材中的主要化学成分——木犀草素的含量（0.7%）；利用串联质谱技术，对西番莲和射干中的主要成分进行了快速鉴定，从西番莲中鉴定了4个黄酮碳苷；从不同产地的射干和川射干中鉴定了8 个主要异黄酮成分，其中包括一个未见报道的化合物。 第四章的内容为藏药材石莲叶点地梅的活性成分研究。从植物石莲叶点地梅(Androsace integra (Maxim.) Hand.-Mazz.) 乙醇提取物的正丁醇萃取部分共分离和鉴定了6 个化合物，利用MS 和NMR 等现代波谱学技术阐明了它们的结构：其中包括4 个三萜类化合物：分别是androsacin (1)、 ardisiacrispin A (2) 、saxifragifolin A (3) 和20(29)-lupen-3-one (4)；一个神经酰胺：4-羟基-Δ8,9(Z)-鞘氨醇-2'-羟基正二十四碳酸酰胺(5)；一个甾体类化合物：胡萝卜苷(6)。化合物1为新的13,28-epoxy-oleanane 型三萜皂苷，在其结构表征的过程中，采用LC-MS 进行糖分析，获得了值得推广的好结果。通过活性筛选发现化合物1~3 对HepG2肝癌细胞表现出不同程度的抑制活性，其中化合物2 活性最好，其IG50 为1.65μg/mL。 第五章是关于一些传统中藏药材的农药活性筛选。利用Syngenta 公司的活性筛选平台对68 种传统中藏药材醇提物进行了抗菌和除草的生物源农药活性筛选。结果表明所筛选的68 种植物提取物中，共有14 种样品表现出明显的除草/杀虫活性，其中水母雪莲花、松萝和茯神木等植物提取物还具有多种生物活性。活性成分还有待进一步追踪分离、纯化和结构鉴定。 第六章为文献综述，概述了羌活药材的研究进展。对羌活属及药用羌活植物从分类学、本草学、品质评价、人工栽培、化学成分及药理作用等方面进行了文献归纳和总结。 In this dissertation, an electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) signal enhancement method, as well as the work of bioactive components study, HPLC-MS/MS application, bioassay screening, chromatograph separation and structure identification of the metabolites in several medicinal herbs have been reported. First chapter expounded a rapid, simple ESI-MS sensitivity enhancement method for detecting carbonyl groups in natural products has been developed by using hydroxylamine hydrochloride (NH2OH·HCl) as a derivatization reagent. We use the oxime formed during the derivatization reactions and its Beckmann rearrangement intermediates as a means of detecting the carbonyl groups originally present in these triterpenoids. In comparison with other derivatization methods in the literature, this method is simple, specific and can be used to detect carbonyl groups in triterpenoids which have low polarity and are poorly or non-ionizable. Moreover, it can also be used to detect hydroxyl groups by using the Dess-Martin periodinane (DMP) to convert primary and secondary hydroxyls into carbonyl groups. Chapter 2 reported an HPLC-MS method for analyzing the main bioactive compounds in both wild and cultured Notopterygium incisum. The results indicated that the main bioactive compounds varied through different seasons regularly, and in different commercial parts of this herb the content of these compounds also differed from each other. The quantitative analysis results showed that in the traditional commercial parts, the content of main chemical constitutes in Silkworm Notopterygium, Bamboo Notopterygium and Irregular-nodal Notopterygium are higher than that in Striped Notopterygium. This result is tally with the traditionally concept that the quality of Notopterygium, Bamboo Notopterygium and Irregular-nodal Notopterygium are better than that of Striped Notopterygium, which means that the quality of rhizomes is better than main roots. The chemical constituents of cultured N. incisum is reported for the first time in this dissertation and the analysis results showed some growth curves of chemical constituents in this plant, but still left some questions unanswered. Chapter 3 discussed the GC/LC-MS analysis of the traditional Chinese medicines Codonopsis thalictrifolis, Passiflora incarnate, Belamcanda chinensis and Passiflora incarnate. The main constituent, luteolin was isolated and identified from the traditional Tibet medicine of C. thalictrifolis. The quantitative analysis by HPLC has revealed that the content of luteolin in this herb is 0.7%. GC-MS was employed to analyzed chemical constituents of the essential oil from the flower of C. thalictrifolis. More than 60 peaks were detected and 45 of them were identified by comparing their spectra with that of the standards in the database and literatures. ESI-MS/MS was used to analyze the n-butanol extract of Passiflora incarnate. Based on the information of pseudo molecular ions and fragment ions of the glycosides, four major flavone-C-glycosides have been detected and identified as 7-methoxyluteolin-6-C-β-D-glucopyranoside, vitexin, swertisin and orientin. The isoflavone compounds in theextracts of three samples of B. chinensis collected in Gansu, Sichuan and Hunan, and the extract of Iris tectorum collected in Sichuan were analyzed by using TOF-HRMS and IT-MS. From the extracts of these herbs, a new isoflavone, identified as 5’,5,6,7-tetrahydroxy-3’4’-dimethoxyl isoflavon, and 7 known ones have been identified by analyzing the fragmentation patterns and their molecular formulas given by HRMS and the tandem mass spectrometry acquired by IT-MS. Chapter 4 elucidated the isolation and identification of a new triterpene saponin, androsacin (1), along with five known compounds (2-6) were isolated from the whole plants of Androsace integra (Maxim.) Hand.-Mazz., an herb used in traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine. The chemical structure of the new compound was established as 3β-O-{β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1→2)-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→4)-[O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)]-α-L-arabinopyranosyl}-16α-hydroxy-13β,28-epoxy-olean-30-al by analyzing its MS, 1D- and 2D-NMR spectra. Compound 2 was cytotoxic toward HepG2 cancer cell with the GI50 value of 1.65 μg/mL. Chapter 5 described the biogenic pesticide activity screening of 68 traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine extractions. The intention of this study is to explore bioactive natural compounds from these traditional medicinal herbs for biogenic insecticides use. Based on Syngenta’s bioassay, 14 extractions of these traditional medicines showed pesticide activities, and some of them had multi-activities on antibacterial and insecticidal. Chapter 6 is a review on the chemical and bioactivity research progress of Notopterygium incisum and N. forbesii.

核辐照技术在中药领域中的应用；Application of Nuclear Irradiation to Traditional Chinese Medicine

核辐照应用于中药领域的研究得到人们广泛关注。综述了核辐照在中草药的栽培、育种和消毒等方面的应用,指出辐照诱变技术与生物技术相结合将为提高细胞突变率和加快中草药遗传改良开辟广阔前景。

Restudy on the wave functions of Gamma(nS) states in the light-front quark model and the radiative decays of Gamma(nS) -> eta(b) + gamma

The light-front quark model has been applied to calculate the transition matrix elements of heavy hadron decays. However, it is noted that using the traditional wave functions of the light-front quark model given in the literature, the theoretically determined decay constants of the Gamma(nS) obviously contradict the data. This implies that the wave functions must be modified. Keeping the orthogonality among the nS states and fitting their decay constants, we obtain a series of the wave functions for Gamma(nS). Based on these wave functions and by analogy with the hydrogen atom, we suggest a modified analytical form for the Gamma(nS) wave functions. Using the modified wave functions, the obtained decay constants are close to the experimental data. Then we calculate the rates of radiative decays of Gamma(nS) -> eta(b) + gamma. Our predictions are consistent with the experimental data on decays Gamma(3S) -> eta(b) + gamma within the theoretical and experimental errors.

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.

The use of CE-electrochemiluminescence with ionic liquid for the determination of bioactive constituents in Chinese traditional medicine

CE/tris(2,2-bipyridyl) ruthenium(ll) (Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)) electrochemiluminescence (ECL), CEECL, with an ionic liquid (IL) detection system was established for the determination of bioactive constituents in Chinese traditional medicine opium poppy which contain large amounts of coexistent substances. A minimal sample pretreatment which involves a one-step extraction approach avoids both sample loss and environmental pollution. As the nearby hydroxyl groups in some alkaloid such as morphine may react with borate to form complexes and IL, as a high-conductivity additive in running buffer, could cause an enhanced field-amplified effect of electrokinetic injection. Running buffer containing 25 mM borax-8 mM 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMImBF(4)) IL (pH 9.18) was used which resulted in significant changes in separation selectivity and obvious enhancement in ECL intensities for those alkaloids with similar structures. Sensitive detection could be achieved when the distance between the Pt working electrode and the outlet of separation capillary was set at 150 mu m and the stainless steel cannula was fixed approximately 1 cm away from the outlet of the capillary. Quantitative analysis of four alkaloids was achieved at a detection voltage of 1.2 V and a separation voltage of 15 kV in less than 7 min.

Facile separation and determination of Aconitine alkaloids in traditional Chinese medicines by CE with tris(2,2 '-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II)-based electrochemi-luminescence detection

A facile CE method coupled with tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) ruthenium(ll)-based electrochem iluminescence [Ru(bpy)(3)(2+)] detection was developed for simultaneous determination of Aconitum alkaloids, i.e., hypaconitine (HA), aconitine (AC), and mesaconitine (MA) in baseline separation. The optimal separation of these Aconitum alkaloids was achieved in a fused-silica capillary column (50 cm x 25 mu m id) with 30 mM phosphate solution (pH 8.40) as running buffer at 12 kV applied voltage. The three alkaloids can be determined within 10 min by a single run. The calibration curves showed a linear range from 2.0 x 10(-7) to 2.0 x 10(-5) M for HA, 3.4 x 10(-7) to 1.7 x 10(-5) M for AC, and 3.8 x 10(-7) to 1.9 x 10(-5) M for MA. The RSDs; for all analytes were below 3.01%. Good linear relationships were found with correlation coefficients for all analytes exceeding 0.993. The detection limits were 2.0 x 10(-8) M for HA, 1.7 x 10(-7) M for AC, and 1.9 x 10(-7) M for MA under optimal conditions. This method was successfully applied to determine the three alkaloids in Aconitum plants.