Delay asymptotics and bounds for multitask parallel jobs

Queueing Systems - We study delay of jobs that consist of multiple parallel tasks, which is a critical performance metric in a wide range of applications such as data file retrieval in coded...     

Metabolism studies on prim‐O‐glucosylcimifugin and cimifugin in human liver microsomes by ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry

Prim‐O‐glucosylcimifugin (PGCN) and cimifugin (CN) are major constituents of Radix Saposhnikoviae that have antipyretic, analgesic and anti‐inflammatory pharmacological activities. However, there were few reports with respect to the metabolism of PGCN and CN in vitro. In this paper, we describe a strategy using ultra‐performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (UPLC‐Q‐TOF‐MS) for fast analysis of the metabolic profile of PGCN and CN in human liver microsomes. In total, five phase I metabolites of PGCN, seven phase I metabolites and two phase II metabolites of CN were identified in the incubation of human liver microsomes. The results revealed that the main phase I metabolic pathways of PGCN were hydroxylation and hydrolysis reactions. The phase I metabolic pathways of CN were found to be hydroxylation, demethylation and dehydrogenation. Meanwhile, the results indicated that O‐glucuronidation was the major metabolic pathway of CN in phase II metabolism. The specific UDP‐glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes responsible for CN glucuronidation metabolites were identified using recombinant UGT enzymes. The results indicated that UGT1A1, UGT1A9, UGT2B4 and UGT2B7 might play major roles in the glucuronidation of CN. Overall, this study may be useful for the investigation of metabolic mechanism of PGCN and CN, and it can provide reference and evidence for further pharmacodynamic experiments. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fe2O3-catalyzed Pummerer rearrangement of acyl chlorides and sulfoxides: Facile synthesis of alkylthiomethyl ester

A simple, effective approach for the Pummerer rearrangement of acyl chlorides with sulfoxides by using a low-cost and more abundant Fe catalyst has been described. The alkylthiomethyl ester products were prepared in good to excellent yields for a range of different substrates including asymmetrical sulfoxides and acyl chlorides with a variety of functional groups under mild reaction conditions. The reaction features short reaction time, simple manipulation, cheap reagents and a broad substrate scope. Single crystal X-ray analysis of a representative methylthiomethyl (MTM) group containing product was also reported.     

过渡金属-联咪唑-Dawson型钨磷酸盐杂化化合物的酶固定化性能

利用水热法和直接沉淀法, 设计合成了5例由过渡金属(TM)-联咪唑配阳离子与Dawson型钨磷酸阴离子构成的多金属氧酸盐(POM)基有机-无机杂化化合物[Ni(H₂biim)₃]₄[Ni(H₂biim)₂(P₂W₁₈O₆₂)₂]·2H₂O(1), [Co^III(H₂biim)₃]₂[P₂W₁₈O₆₂]·8H₂O(2), [Cu(H₂biim)₂]₃[P₂W₁₈O₆₂]·4H₂O(3), [Co^II(H₂biim)₃]₂H₂[P₂W₁₈O₆₂]·9H₂O(4)和 [Ni(H₂biim)₃]₃[P₂W₁₈O₆₂]·2H₂O(5); 并利用X射线单晶衍射分析(SC-XRD)、 红外光谱(IR)和热重-差热分析 (TG-DTA)等对其进行了表征. 化合物1~5作为载体用于固定辣根过氧化物酶(HRP)时, 显示出了较高的酶固定化能力. 另外, 利用圆二色光谱(CD)和激光扫描共聚焦显微镜(LSCM)等方法评价了固定化酶HRP/1~HRP/5的重复使用性、 储存稳定性和检测过氧化氢(H₂O₂)的性能. 由于该类POMs与HRP间存在强的相互作用, 利用简单的物理吸附法即可实现POMs对HRP的固载. POMs对酶的固定不但提高了HRP对使用及储存环境的耐受性, 同时也拓展了POMs在酶固定化领域的应用.     

Analysis of the Thermal Decomposition Path of SF6 on the Surface of Cu and its Oxides

Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing - Accurately grasping the decomposition path of SF6 on the surface of typical metals and metal oxides is the key to reveal the decomposition mechanism of...     

Comparative Analysis of Chemical Constituents in Different Parts of Lotus by UPLC and QToF-MS

Six parts of lotus (seeds, leaves, plumule, stamens, receptacles and rhizome nodes) are herbal medicines that are listed in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Their indications and functions have been confirmed by a long history of clinical practice. To fully understand the material basis of clinical applications, UPLC-QToF-MS combined with the UNIFI platform and multivariate statistical analysis was used in this study. As a result, a total of 171 compounds were detected and characterized from the six parts, and 23 robust biomarkers were discovered. The method can be used as a standard protocol for the direct identification and prediction of the six parts of lotus. Meanwhile, these discoveries are valuable for improving the quality control method of herbal medicines. Most importantly, this was the first time that alkaloids were detected in the stamen, and terpenoids were detected in the cored seed. The stamen is a noteworthy part because it contains the greatest diversity of flavonoids and terpenoids, but research on the stamen is rather limited.     

Enhanced Photocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to CO through TiO2 Passivation of InP in Ionic Liquids

A robust and reliable method for improving the photocatalytic performance of InP, which is one of the best known materials for solar photoconversion (i.e., solar cells). In this article, we report substantial improvements (up to 18×) in the photocatalytic yields for CO₂ reduction to CO through the surface passivation of InP with TiO₂ deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD). Here, the main mechanisms of enhancement are the introduction of catalytically active sites and the formation of a pn‐junction. Photoelectrochemical reactions were carried out in a nonaqueous solution consisting of ionic liquid, 1‐ethyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([EMIM]BF₄), dissolved in acetonitrile, which enables CO₂ reduction with a Faradaic efficiency of 99 % at an underpotential of +0.78 V. While the photocatalytic yield increases with the addition of the TiO₂ layer, a corresponding drop in the photoluminescence intensity indicates the presence of catalytically active sites, which cause an increase in the electron‐hole pair recombination rate. NMR spectra show that the [EMIM]⁺ ions in solution form an intermediate complex with CO₂^?, thus lowering the energy barrier of this reaction.     

Stability of complex hyperbolic space under curvature-normalized Ricci flow

Using the maximal regularity theory for quasilinear parabolic systems, we prove two stability results of complex hyperbolic space under the curvature-normalized Ricci flow in complex dimensions two and higher. The first result is on a closed manifold. The second result is on a complete noncompact manifold. To prove both results, we fully analyze the structure of the Lichnerowicz Laplacian on complex hyperbolic space. To prove the second result, we also define suitably weighted little Hölder spaces on a complete noncompact manifold and establish their interpolation properties.