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Controllable Manner (controllable + manner)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Polymers and Materials Science	50%

Selected Abstracts

Microcapsules Containing a Biomolecular Motor for ATP Biosynthesis,

ADVANCED MATERIALS, Issue 15 2008
Qiang He
Abstract Over the past two decades, advances in modern biology and nanotechnology have enabled a rapid development in the design and building of biomimetic functional materials. ATP synthase is one of the most extensively studied molecular machines because it can be used as a rotary motor in the design of novel nanodevices and it can also continuously synthesize ATP in an artificial environment. A lot of research efforts have focused on assembling ATP synthase in biomimetic systems so that a complex cellular process can be constructed in a controllable manner. As we summarize here, layer-by-layer assembled microcapsules have proved to be a suitable cellular mimetic structure, which can be applied for engineering active biomimetic systems with a cellular process. An added benefit is that these assembled microcapsules can be used as bioenergy containers and thus ATP supply on demand. [source]

Nitric oxide and pain: ,Something old, something new'

ACTA ANAESTHESIOLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 9 2009
A. MICLESCU
Challenges have emerged following the revival of nitric oxide (NO) from ,something old', a simple gas derived from nitrogen and oxygen with a role in the early stages of evolution, into ,something new', an endogenously formed biological mediator regulating a wide variety of physiological functions. Although pain is a common sensation, it encompasses multiple neurobiologic components, of which NO is only one. In pain research, the study of NO is complicated by convoluted problems related mostly to the effects of NO, which are pro- or anti-nociceptive depending on the circumstances. This dual function reflects the multi-faceted roles of the NO molecule described in physiology. This review covers current information about NO and its implications in pain mechanisms. In addition, it follows the pain pathways, demonstrating the role of NO in peripheral nociceptive transmission as well in central sensitization. This knowledge may provide the scientific basis for developing new drugs that are indicated for different types of pain, drugs that may be related to the chemical links of NO. A comprehensive approach to understanding the effects of NO will help clinicians identify novel agents that combine the pharmacological profile of native drugs with a controllable manner of NO release. Inhibitors of NO synthesis may have analgesic effects and would be of interest for treating inflammatory and neuropathic pain. Unfortunately, only a few of these compounds have reached the stage of clinical pain trials. [source]

Efficient blue-green-emitting poly[(5-diphenylamino-1,3-phenylenevinylene)- alt -(2,5-dihexyloxy-1,4-phenylenevinylene)] derivatives: Synthesis and optical properties

JOURNAL OF POLYMER SCIENCE (IN TWO SECTIONS), Issue 7 2006
Liang Liao
Abstract New poly(phenylene vinylene) derivatives with a 5-diphenylamino-1,3-phenylene linkage (including polymers 2, 3, and 5) have been synthesized to improve the charge-injection properties. These polymers are highly photoluminescent with fluorescent quantum yields as high as 76% in tetrahydrofuran solutions. With effective ,-conjugation interruption at adjacent m -phenylene units, chromophores of different conjugation lengths can be incorporated into the polymer chain in a controllable manner. In polymer 2, the structural regularity leads to an isolated, well-defined emitting chromophore. Isomeric polymer 3 of a random chain sequence, however, allows the effective emitting chromophores to be joined in sequence by sharing a common m -phenylene linkage (as shown in a molecular fragment). Double-layer light-emitting-diode devices using 2, 3, and 5 as emitting layers have turn-on voltages of about 3.5 V and produce blue-green emissions with peaks at 493, 492, and 482 nm and external quantum efficiencies up to 1.42, 0.98, and 1.53%, respectively. In comparison with a light-emitting diode using 2, a device using 3 shows improved charge injection and displays increased brightness by a factor of ,3 to 1400 cd/m2 at an 8-V bias. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 2307,2315, 2006 [source]

Performance and numerical behavior of the second-order scheme of precise time-step integration for transient dynamic analysis

NUMERICAL METHODS FOR PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS, Issue 6 2007
Hang Ma
Abstract Spurious high-frequency responses resulting from spatial discretization in time-step algorithms for structural dynamic analysis have long been an issue of concern in the framework of traditional finite difference methods. Such algorithms should be not only numerically dissipative in a controllable manner, but also unconditionally stable so that the time-step size can be governed solely by the accuracy requirement. In this article, the issue is considered in the framework of the second-order scheme of the precise integration method (PIM). Taking the Newmark-, method as a reference, the performance and numerical behavior of the second-order PIM for elasto-dynamic impact-response problems are studied in detail. In this analysis, the differential quadrature method is used for spatial discretization. The effects of spatial discretization, numerical damping, and time step on solution accuracy are explored by analyzing longitudinal vibrations of a shock-excited rod with rectangular, half-triangular, and Heaviside step impact. Both the analysis and numerical tests show that under the framework of the PIM, the spatial discretization used here can provide a reasonable number of model types for any given error tolerance. In the analysis of dynamic response, an appropriate spatial discretization scheme for a given structure is usually required in order to obtain an accurate and meaningful numerical solution, especially for describing the fine details of traction responses with sharp changes. Under the framework of the PIM, the numerical damping that is often required in traditional integration schemes is found to be unnecessary, and there is no restriction on the size of time steps, because the PIM can usually produce results with machine-like precision and is an unconditionally stable explicit method. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2007 [source]