2,2′-Biazulene diimide-based conjugate polymers for highperformance field-effect transistors

Azulene,which is one of the non-alternating 10π-electron aromatic compounds,has attracted the interest of many research groups due to the application to material sciences utilizing the unique optoelectronic properties.

Exploring High-Performance Architecture for Data Center Networks

As a critical infrastructure of cloud computing,data center networks(DCNs)directly determine the service performance of data centers,which provide computing services for various applications such as big data processing and artificial intelligence.However,current architectures of data center networks suffer from a long routing path and a low fault tolerance between source and destination servers,which is hard to satisfy the requirements of high-performance data center networks.Based on dual-port servers and Clos network structure,this paper proposed a novel architecture RClos to construct high-performance data center networks.Logically,the proposed architecture is constructed by inserting a dual-port server into each pair of adjacent switches in the fabric of switches,where switches are connected in the form of a ring Clos structure.We describe the structural properties of RClos in terms of network scale,bisection bandwidth,and network diameter.RClos architecture inherits characteristics of its embedded Clos network,which can accommodate a large number of servers with a small average path length.The proposed architecture embraces a high fault tolerance,which adapts to the construction of various data center networks.For example,the average path length between servers is 3.44,and the standardized bisection bandwidth is 0.8 in RClos(32,5).The result of numerical experiments shows that RClos enjoys a small average path length and a high network fault tolerance,which is essential in the construction of high-performance data center networks.

Method for quantification of prazosin in dog plasma and its application to pharmacokinetic study

A simple and sensitive high performance liquid chromatography method using fluorescence detection （HPLC- FLD） and a one-step single solvent extraction for the determination of prazosin（PZS） in dog plasma is developed and validated. After extraction with ether, the chromatographic separation of PZS is carried out using a reverse phase C18 column （ 150 mm ×4.6 mm, 5 μm） with a mobile phase of 30% acetonitrile and 70% acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer solution （pH = 3.6） and quantified by fluorescence detection operated with an excitation wavelength of 258 nm and an emission wavelength of 387 nm. The flow rate of the mobile phase is 1.0 mL/min and the retention time of PZS and the internal standard is found to be 4. 4 and 5. 8 rain, respectively. The calibration curve is linear within a concentration range from 1.0 to 1 000.0 ng/mL （ P 〉 0. 998）. The limit of detection is 0.4 ng/mL. The inter-day coefficient of variation （COV） of the calibration standards is below 5.0% and the mean accuracy is in the range from 92. 7% to 104. 2%. Moreover, by analyzing quality control plasma samples for three days, the results show that the method is precise and accurate, for the intra- and inter- day COV within 10% and the accuracy from 95.9% to 112.7%. The developed and validated method is successfully applied to phannacokinetic study for the preclinical evaluation of a new peroral PZS-sulfobutyl ether beta-cyclodextrin （PZS-SBE-β-CD） inclusion complex tablets （test preparation）, which demonstrates that the test preparation released PZS is conducted in a slow and controlled way, and the relative bioavailability of the test preparation is found to be 105.0%.

Analysis of three types of triterpenoids in tetraploid white birches(Betula platyphylla Suk.) and selection of plus trees

Betulin, oleanolic acid, and betulinic acid are naturally occurring pentacyclic triterpenoids that have significant medicinal value. Considerable amounts of these triterpenoids are available in the outer bark of white birch. In this study, we used ultrasound-assisted extraction （UAE） to extract triterpenoids from birch bark rapidly and with high efficiency. Using high performance liquid chro- matography （HPLC）, three types of triterpenoids were separated and detected. We examined the differences among triterpenoids extracted from diploid versus tetra- ploid white birch. Then, we used factor analysis to screen out tetraploid white birches with comprehensively excel- lent performance. The results indicate that the optimum conditions for extraction include the use of ethanol as an extraction solvent, a solid-to-liquid ratio of 0.1 g/10 ml, ultrasonic power set at 100 W, a temperature of 60 ℃ and an extraction time of 15 min. A reversed-phase C18 col- umn （4.6 mm × 250 mm × 5 μm） with a column tem- perature of 30 ℃ and the mobile phase composed of A （acetonitrile） and B （0.1% aqueous phosphoric acid, v/v） at a flow rate of 0.5 ml/min were used, and the detection wavelength was 195 nm. No significant difference wasobserved between diploid and tetraploid white birch in terms of the content of three types of triterpenoids （at a confidence level of 0.05）. As triterpenoid content, height, and DBH （diameter at breast height） are strongly interre- lated, we used factor analysis to evaluate all individuals, and we screened out six plus trees with excellent com- prehensive characters.

Determination of Sulfadimidine in Royal Jelly by C_(18)-functionalized Magnetic Silica Nanoparticles Solid Phase Extraction-High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry

[Objective] This study aimed to develop a method of C_18-functionalized magnetic silica nanoparticles solid phase extraction-high performance liquid chro- matography-tandem mass spectrometry for the determination of sulfadimidine in royal jelly. [Method] The royal jelly samples were pretreated by MCX SPE column and C_18-functionalized magnetic silica nanoparticles, and the purified samples were de- tected by HPLC-MS/MS. [Result] The detection method showed a good linear rela- tionship in the range of 5-80 ugkg （r=0.993 1）. The recovery ranges were between 93%- 104% with the relative standard deviations （RSD） below 11.3%. [Conclusion] Combined with automation equipment, the method is simple, fast, time-saving, and easy to real- ize the automation of sulfadimidine in the royal jelly samples before determination.

CVOCs elimination by catalytic combustion

Chlorinated volatile organic compounds(CVOCs)are widely used in industry as solvents intermediates,which are highly toxic and a contributor for secondary organic aerogels,tropospheric ozone and photochemical smog[1].Many technologies have been developed to eliminate CVOCs emission.Catalytic combustion is regarded as one of the most economical and reliable technologies.The development of catalytic combustion system includes exploring reaction devices,reaction processes and catalysts,among which the key task is to develop highperformance catalysts.

Comparison of liquid-liquid extraction-thin layer chromatography with solid-phase extraction-high-performance thin layer chromatography in detection of urinary morphine

Liquid-liquid extraction-thin layer chromatography （LLE-TLC） has been a common and routine combined method for detection of drugs in biological materials. Solid-phase extraction （SPE） is gradually replacing the tra- ditional LLE method. High performance thin layer chromatography （HPTLC） has several advantages over TLC. The present work studied the higher efficiency of a new SPE-HPTLC method over that of a routine LLE-TLC method, in extraction and detection of urinary morphine. Fifty-eight urine samples, primarily identified as mor- phine-positive samples by a strip test, ＇were re-screened by LLE-TLC and SPE-HPTLC. The results of LLE-TLC and SPE-HPTLC were then compared with each other. The results showed that the SPE-HPTLC detected 74% of total samples as morphine-positive samples whereas the LLE-TLC detected 48% of the same samples. We further discussed the effect of codeine abuse on TLC analysis of urinary morphine. Regarding the importance of morphine detection in urine, the present combined SPE-HPTLC method is suggested as a replacement method for detection of urinary morphine by many reference laboratories.

The ocular toxicity and pharmacokinetics of simvastatin following intravitreal injection in mice

AIM：To investigate the retinal toxicity and pharmacokinetics of simvastatin intravitreally injected into mice.METHODS：Forty-eight 6-8-week-old C57BL/6J mice were used in this study.Simvastatin was intravitreally injected into the right eye of each mouse;the left eye was injected with vehicle and was used as a control.Bilateral dark-adapted electroretinography（ERG）was performed 1 and 7d following injection.Histology was examined using a combination of light,fluorescence and electron microscopy.Highperformance liquid chromatography（HPLC）was used to determine the decay in the retinal simvastatin concentration.RESULTS：ERG revealed no significant changes in the simvastatin-injected eyes compared to control.Histologic studies showed normal retinal morphology in eyes injected with simvastatin up to a final vitreal concentration of 200μmol/L.No significant changes in the number of photoreceptors,bipolar cells or ganglion cells were found.The retinal simvastatin concentration decayed exponentially,with a half-life of 1.92-2.41h.CONCLUSION：Intravitreal injection of up to 200μmol/L simvastatin produced no signs of adverse effects in the mouse retina.Simvastatin reaches the retina shortly after intravitreal injectionand has a short half-life.

Pressured Microwave-assisted Hydrolysis of Crude Glycyrrhizic Acid for Preparation of Glycyrrhetinic Acid

A pressured microwave-assisted hydrolysis （PMAH） technique has been developed for hydrolyzing the crude glycyrrhizic acid （GA） extracted from licorice root to prepare glycyrrhetinic acid （GRA）. In order to optimize the efficiency of PMAH, several experimental parameters were investigated, including liquid-solid ratio, hydrolysis time, sulfuric acid concentration and hydrolysis temperature. The optimized hydrolysis conditions were as follows：pressured microwave-assisted hydrolysis of crude GA for 21 min （taking 15 min to reach 150 ℃, and holding it for 6 rain） at 150 ℃ （at a radiation power of 450 W） in 3%-5% sulfuric acid solution with the liquid-solid （ml.g-1 crude GA） ratio of 25 ： 1. As a result of the considerable saving in time and higher product yields （up to 90%）, PMAH was proved more effective than conventional methods.

Mutation screening of mismatch repair gene Mlh3 in familial esophageal cancer

AIM： To shed light on the possible role of mismatch repair gene MIh3 in familial esophageal cancer （FEC）. METHODS： A total of 66 members from 10 families suggestive of a genetic predisposition to hereditary esophageal cancer were screened for germline mutations in MIh3 with denaturing high performance liquid chromatography （DHPLC）, a newly developed method of comparative sequencing based on heteroduplex detection. For all samples exhibiting abnormal DHPLC profiles, sequence changes were evaluated by cycle sequencing. For any mutation in family members, we conducted a segregation study to compare its prevalence in sporadic esophageal cancer patients and normal controls. RESULTS： Exons of MIh3 in all samples were successfully examined. Overall, 4 missense mutations and 3 polymorphisms were identified in 4 families. MIh3 missense mutations in families 9 and 10 might be pathogenic, but had a reduced penetrance. While in families 1 and 7, there was no sufficient evidence supporting the monogenic explanations of esophageal cancers in families. The mutations were found in 33% of high-risk families and 50% of low-risk families.CONCLUSION： MIh3 is a high risk gene with a reduced penetrance in some families. However, it acts as a low risk gene for esophageal cancer in most families. Mutations of MIh3 may work together with other genes in an accumulated manner and result in an increased risk of esophageal tumor. DHPLC is a robust and sensitive technique for screening gene mutations.

An efficient geosciences workflow on multi-core processors and GPUs:a case study for aerosol optical depth retrieval from MODIS satellite data

Quantitative remote sensing retrieval algorithms help understanding the dynamic aspects of Digital Earth.However,the Big Data and complex models in Digital Earth pose grand challenges for computation infrastructures.In this article,taking the aerosol optical depth(AOD)retrieval as a study case,we exploit parallel computing methods for high efficient geophysical parameter retrieval.We present an efficient geocomputation workflow for the AOD calculation from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)satellite data.According to their individual potential for parallelization,several procedures were adapted and implemented for a successful parallel execution on multicore processors and Graphics Processing Units(GPUs).The benchmarks in this paper validate the high parallel performance of the retrieval workflow with speedups of up to 5.x on a multi-core processor with 8 threads and 43.x on a GPU.To specifically address the time-consuming model retrieval part,hybrid parallel patterns which combine the multicore processor’s and the GPU’s compute power were implemented with static and dynamic workload distributions and evaluated on two systems with different CPU–GPU configurations.It is shown that only the dynamic hybrid implementation leads to a greatly enhanced overall exploitation of the heterogeneous hardware environment in varying circumstances.

Detection of Phthalate Esters in Environmental Water Samples -Comparison of Nylon6 Nanofibers Mat-based Solid Phase Extraction and Other Conventional Extraction Methods

In this article, a new method for simultaneous determination of six phthalate esters was developed by a combination of electrospun nylon6 nanofibers mat-based solid phase extraction with high performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detector （HPLC-UV）. The six phthalate esters were dimethyl phthalate （DMP）, diethyl phthalate （DEP）, butyl benzyl phthalate （BBP）, di-n-butyl phthalate （DBP）, di-（2-ethylhexyl） phthalate （DEHP） and dioctyl phthalate （DOP）. Under optimized conditions, all target analytes in 50 mL environmental water samples could be completely extracted by 2.5 mg nylon6 nanofibers mat and eluted by 100 μL solvent. Compared with C18 cartridges solid phase extraction, C 18 disks solid phase extraction and national standard method （China）, nylon6 nanofibers mat-based solid phase extraction was advantageous in aspects of simple and fast operation, low consumption of extraction materials and organic solvents. The four methods were applied to analysis of environment water samples. All the results indicated that the determination values of target compounds with the proposed method were consistent with C18 cartridges and C18 disks solid phase extraction method, and the new method was better than the national standard method in aspects of recovery, LOD and precision. Therefore, nylon6 nanofibers mat has great potential as a novel material for solid phase extraction.

harmacokinetics of Tetramethylpyrazine Phosphate inHealthy and Blood Stasis Dogs in vivo

To test the hypotliesis of Syndrome and Treatment Pharmacokinetics (S-TPK ) , tlie authorsbeve stodied tlie pharmacokinetics of tetramethyrazine phosphate (TMPP) in healthy and blood stasis dogs byhigh performance liquid chromatography. After a single intravenous injection ot TMPP & mg` kg i to healthyand blood stasis dogs, compartment model of TMPP serum concontration was fitted and then pharmacokineticparameters were calculated with a Microcomputer Pharmacokinetic Program on a Compaq 80386 computer.lmportant parameters were as follows: in the healthy dogs, T1/2 = 30. 27 ±6. 85 min. Kel = 0. 11 ± 0. 04min-1 , AUC = 445. 26 ± 51 . 26 mg/L.min , in the blood stasis dogs, min, Kel = 0. 06±0 . 01 min -1 , AUC = 1381 . 85 ± 464 . 68 mg/L. min. Through this experiment it was found that there was sig-nificant differefico in the pharmacokinetic parameters between healthy and blood stasis dogs. The results ob-tained are consistent with S-TPK hypotbesis.