Simulated annealing-based optimal design of energy efficient ternary extractive dividing wall distillation process for separating benzene-isopropanol-water mixtures

This article investigates the performances of different extractive distillation processes intensified with dividing-wall column for separating benzene-isopropanol-water ternary mixtures.All the processes with ethylene glycol as solvent are optimized with the minimal total annual cost(TAC)as target.In order to get the global optimal solution intelligently,an improved simulated annealing algorithm is adopted,which is programmed in MATLAB and linked to Aspen Plus.The results show that the extractive dividing wall column-solvent(EDWC-S)process consisting of an extractive dividing wall column and a solvent recovery column is the best scheme.It can reduce the TAC by 28.65%and CO_(2) emissions by 32.84% compared to the conventional triple-column extractive distillation process.

Synthetic strategy of biomimetic sea urchin-like Co-NC@PANI modified MXene-based magnetic aerogels with enhanced electromagnetic wave absorption properties

The rational and effective combination of multicomponent materials and ingenious microstructure design for efficient electromagnetic wave(EMW)absorption are still challenging.In this paper,MXene was used as the aerogel matrix,modified with sea urchin-like magnetic Co/N-doped carbon@polyaniline(Co-NC@PANI),gelatin was introduced as the reinforcement phase of the aerogel backbone,and a microwave absorber with high efficiency and excellent performance was successfully prepared.The sea urchin-like Co-NC@PANI not only adjusted the impedance matching of the MXene but also introduced a magnetic loss mode into the composite.The multicomponent interfacial polarization,heterostructure,three-dimensional(3D)lightweight porous structure,and electromagnetic synergy strategy enabled the MXene-based aerogel modified by Co-NC@PANI(MCoP)to exhibit surprising EMW absorption properties.The maximum reflection loss(RL_(max))of the aerogel composite reached-62.4 dB,and the effective absorption bandwidth(EAB)reached 6.56 GHz when the loading was only 12%.In addition,through electromagnetic simulation experiments,the change in the electromagnetic field before and after EMW passed through the materials and the distribution of the volume loss density of EMW by the coaxial ring were observed.The coordinated electromagnetic balance strategy in the 3D network provides inspiration for the construction of materials and expands the research direction of lightweight and outstanding microwave absorbers.

为什么要设计酶催化活体自组装？

自组装纳米材料在药物递送方面的应用具有巨大的潜能.其尺寸的可调控性、病理环境响应性等物理化学行为,使得自组装纳米载体可以通过改进主动靶向、被动靶向、血液长循环等方面来提高药物递送能力.然而,相对于大量基础研究的投入,目前的临床转化依然面临着巨大的挑战.其中除了药物研发固有的高风险特征外,其主要原因还包括自组装纳米材料在体的稳定性、递送效率以及代谢毒性等问题.由此,我们从自然的自组装过程中得到启发,率先发展了活体自组装(in vivo self-assembly)的策略.它是指通过将外源性的分子引入到特定的生理和病理环境下,在细胞、组织甚至活体生物内进行自组装,形成可控的高级有序结构.通过调控其在复杂生物环境下时空可控的组装,从而实现特定的功能.体内自组装纳米药物具有组装诱导滞留(assembly induced retention,AIR)效应,能够显著增强药物在靶点病灶部位的富集和滞留,增强递送效率,提高药物利用率,同时降低药物在肝肾部位的蓄积,降低了毒性副作用,为癌症等重大疾病的诊断和治疗提供了新思路和新策略.

Synthesis of covalently bonded reduced graphene oxide-Fe_(3)O_(4) nanocomposites for efficient electromagnetic wave absorption

High-performance electromagnetic(EM)wave absorbers,covalently bonded reduced graphene oxideFe_(3)O_(4) nanocomposites(rGO-Fe_(3)O_(4)),are synthesized via hydrothermal reaction,amidation reaction and reduction process.The microstructure,surface element composition and morphology of rGO-Fe_(3)O_(4) nanocomposites are characterized and corresponding EM wave absorption properties are analyzed in great detail.It demonstrates that Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles are successfully covalently grafted onto graphene by amide bonds.When the mass ratio of rGO and Fe_(3)O_(4) is 2:1(sample S2),the absorber exhibits the excellent EM wave absorption performance that the maximum reflection loss(RL)reaches up to-48.6 dB at 14.4 GHz,while the effective absorption bandwidth(RL<-10 dB)is 6.32 GHz(11.68-18.0 GHz)with a matching thickness of 2.1 mm.Furthermore,radar cross section(RCS)simulation calculation is also adopted to evaluate the ability of absorbers to scatter EM waves,which proves again that the absorption performance of absorber S2 is optimal.The outstanding EM wave absorption performance is attributed to the synergistic effect between dielectric and magnetic loss,good attenuation ability and excellent impedance matching.Moreover,covalent bonds considered to be carrier channels can facilitate electron migration,adjust EM parameters and then enhance EM wave absorption perfo rmance.This work provides a possible method for preparing efficient EM wave absorbers.

Distributed policy evaluation via inexact ADMM in multi-agent reinforcement learning

This paper studies a distributed policy evaluation in multi-agent reinforcement learning.Under cooperative settings,each agent only obtains a local reward,while all agents share a common environmental state.To optimize the global return as the sum of local return,the agents exchange information with their neighbors through a communication network.The mean squared projected Bellman error minimization problem is reformulated as a constrained convex optimization problem with a consensus constraint;then,a distributed alternating directions method of multipliers(ADMM)algorithm is proposed to solve it.Furthermore,an inexact step for ADMM is used to achieve efficient computation at each iteration.The convergence of the proposed algorithm is established.yipeng@tongji.edu.cn;LilLi received the B.Sc.and M.Se.degrees from Shengyang Agri-culture University,China in 1996 and 1999.respectivly.and the Ph.D.degree from Shenyang Institute of Automation,Chinese Academy of Science,in 2003.She joined Tongji Universitry,Shanghai,China,in 2003,and is now a professor at the Depart-ment of Control Science and Engineering.Her research inter-ests are in data-driven modeling and opimization,computaional intelligence.

Expanding Asgard members in the domain of Archaea sheds new light on the origin of eukaryotes

The hypothesis that eukaryotes originated from within the domain Archaea has been strongly supported by recent phylogenomic analyses placing Heimdallarchaeota-Wukongarchaeota branch from the Asgard superphylum as the closest known archaeal sister-group to eukaryotes. However, our understanding is still limited in terms of the relationship between eukaryotes and archaea, as well as the evolution and ecological functions of the Asgard archaea. Here, we describe three previously unknown phylum-level Asgard archaeal lineages, tentatively named Sigyn-, Freyr-and Njordarchaeota. Additional members in Wukongarchaeota and Baldrarchaeota from distinct environments are also reported here, further expanding their ecological roles and metabolic capacities. Comprehensive phylogenomic analyses further supported the origin of eukaryotes within Asgard archaea and a new lineage Njordarchaeota was supposed as the known closest branch with the eukaryotic nuclear host lineage. Metabolic reconstruction suggests that Njordarchaeota may have a heterotrophic lifestyle with capability of peptides and amino acids utilization, while Sigynarchaeota and Freyrarchaeota also have the potentials to fix inorganic carbon via the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway and degrade organic matters. Additionally, the Ack/Pta pathway for homoacetogenesis and de novo anaerobic cobalamin biosynthesis pathway were found in Freyrarchaeota and Wukongrarchaeota,respectively. Some previously unidentified eukaryotic signature proteins for intracellular membrane trafficking system, and the homologue of mu/sigma subunit of adaptor protein complex, were identified in Freyrarchaeota. This study expands the Asgard superphylum, sheds new light on the evolution of eukaryotes and improves our understanding of ecological functions of the Asgard archaea.

Leakage pressures for gasketless superhydrophobic fluid interconnects for modular lab-on-a-chip systems

Chip-to-chip and world-to-chip fluidic interconnections are paramount to enable the passage of liquids between component chips and to/from microfluidic systems.Unfortunately,most interconnect designs add additional physical constraints to chips with each additional interconnect leading to over-constrained microfluidic systems.The competing constraints provided by multiple interconnects induce strain in the chips,creating indeterminate dead volumes and misalignment between chips that comprise the microfluidic system.A novel,gasketless superhydrophobic fluidic interconnect(GSFI)that uses capillary forces to form a liquid bridge suspended between concentric through-holes and acting as a fluid passage was investigated.The GSFI decouples the alignment between component chips from the interconnect function and the attachment of the meniscus of the liquid bridge to the edges of the holes produces negligible dead volume.This passive seal was created by patterning parallel superhydrophobic surfaces(water contact angle>150°)around concentric microfluidic ports separated by a gap.The relative position of the two polymer chips was determined by passive kinematic constraints,three spherical ball bearings seated in v-grooves.A leakage pressure model derived from the Young-Laplace equation was used to estimate the leakage pressure at failure for the liquid bridge.Injection-molded,Cyclic Olefin Copolymer(COC)chip assemblies with assembly gaps from 3 to 240μm were used to experimentally validate the model.The maximum leakage pressure measured for the GSFI was 21.4 kPa(3.1 psig),which corresponded to a measured mean assembly gap of 3μm,and decreased to 0.5 kPa(0.073 psig)at a mean assembly gap of 240μm.The effect of radial misalignment on the efficacy of the gasketless seals was tested and no significant effect was observed.This may be a function of how the liquid bridges are formed during the priming of the chip,but additional research is required to test that hypothesis.