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The detrimental environmental effects of surfactant-like contaminants (SLCs) with distinctive amphiphilic structures have garnered significant attention, particularly since perfluorooctanesulfonate was classified as a persistent organic pollutant. Despite the numerous absorbents developed for SLCs removal, the underlying interaction mechanisms remain speculative and lack experimental validation. To address this research gap, we elucidate the mechanistic insights into the selective removal of SLCs using mesoporous polydopamine nanospheres (MPDA) fabricated via a novel soft-template method. We employed low-field nuclear magnetic resonance to quantitatively characterize the hydrophilicity of the absorbents using water molecules as probes. The results demonstrated that MPDA with uniform mesopores exhibited a remarkable threefold enhancement in SLCs’ adsorption capacity compared to conventional polydopamine particles via intraparticle diffusion. We further demonstrated the dominant effects of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions on the selective removal of SLCs with MPDA by regulating the isoelectric pH value and performing a comparative analysis. The mechanism-inspired SLC-removal strategy achieved an average removal rate of 76.3% from highly contaminated wastewater. Our findings offer new avenues for applying MPDA as an efficient adsorbent and provide innovative and mechanistic insights for targeted SLC removal in complex wastewater matrices.

Precise characterization of miRNA expression patterns is critical to exploit the complexity of miRNA regulation in biology. Herein, we developed a Pumilio/FBF (PUF) protein-based engineering luciferase reporter system, PUF/miR, to quantitatively and non-invasively sense miRNA activity in living cells and animal models. We verified the feasibility of this reporter by monitoring the expression of several types of miRNAs (miRNA-9, 124a, 1, and 133a) in neural and muscle differentiated cells as well as subcutaneous or tibial anterior muscles in mice. The quantitative RT-PCR also validated the reliability and quantitative consistency of bioluminescence imaging in detecting miRNA expression. We further effectively employed this reporter system to visualize the expression of miRNA-1 and miRNA-133a in mouse models of skeletal muscle injury. As a non-invasive and convenient innovative approach, our results have realized the positive bioluminescence imaging of endogenous miRNAs in vitro and in vivo using the PUF/miR system. We believe that this approach would provide a potential means for noninvasive monitoring of disease-related miRNAs and could facilitate a deeper understanding of miRNA biology.

Landfill leachate poses significant risks to the environment and human health if not managed properly due to its potential to contaminate soil, ground, and surface waters. Consequently, effluent standards for landfill leachate have been continuously reviewed to manage these risks. A combination of treatment techniques (e.g., physico-chemical and biological) are usually required to treat landfill leachate due to its complexity, variability, and potentially high concentrations of pollutants. This review considers the various types of techniques used to treat landfill leachate/leachate concentrate, including advanced oxidation process (AOP), membrane bioreactor, denitrification, biofilm reactors, and electrocoagulation. The occurrence and treatment of emerging contaminants in landfill leachate, and opportunities for development are also considered. The review covers the basic principles through to the latest developments in research, including the effectiveness of engineering applications, their economic and technical challenges, together with current gaps in the knowledge and the prospects for leachate treatment. A systematic review of the technical characteristics of the engineering applications, used in leachate membrane concentrate treatment, showed that low-energy direct heat transfer evaporation technology had good prospects for future development. Refractory organic compounds, high concentrations of ammonia, high salinity, and concentrated leachate were of high concern. Hence, extensive research has been conducted on the degradation of refractory organic compounds using various AOPs, and the denitrification of ammonia species by novel biological pathways (e.g., anaerobic ammonium oxidation, short-cut denitrification processes). Despite the significant number of promising laboratory scale applications, further research is needed to demonstrate their effectiveness on a commercial/large scale.

Early identification and treatment of breast cancer is very important for breast conserving therapy and to improve the prognosis and survival rates of patients. Multifunctional nanotheranostic agents are of particular importance in the field of precise nanomedicine, since they can augment the visualization and treatment of cancer. We developed a novel Bi2S3nanoparticle coated with a hyaluronic acid (HA)-modified tantalum oxide (TaOx) nanoshell (Bi2S3@TaOx-HA). The as-prepared core/shell nanoparticles exhibited a high Bi2S3nanoparticle loading efficiency of (67 wt %). The TaOxnanoshell exhibited excellent biocompatibility and computed tomography imaging capacity, and the Bi2S3nanoparticles exhibited an excellent photothermal transducing performance and computed tomography (CT) and photoacoustic imaging capacity. As a result of these merits, the Bi2S3@TaOxcore–shell nanoparticles can act as a theranostic agent for CT/photoacoustically monitored enhanced photothermal therapy. These findings will evoke new interest in future cancer therapeutic strategies based on biocompatible functional nanomaterials.

Pyroptotic cell death is a phenomenon that runs through all life activities and plays an important role in physiological and pathological processes of the body’s metabolism. It is of big biological significance to understand the phenomenon and nature of cell pyroptosis. In the process of cell pyroptosis, the pore-forming effector gasdermin D (GSDMD) is cleaved to form oligomers, which are inserted into the cell membrane, causing rapid cell death. However, the effective cell death induced by GSDMD complicates our ability to understand the behavior of pyroptosis. In this work, we performed molecular mutagenesis to develop a genetically encoded pyroptotic reporter, where a secreted Gaussia luciferase (Gluc) was strategically placed in the p30-p20 tolerated junction of GSDMD to support natural pyrophosphorylation and promote live imaging of cell pyroptosis. In addition, we demonstrated that this fused Gluc-GSDMD reporter executed inflammatory body-dependent pyroptosis in response to extracellular stimuli, and that the lysed p30-GSDMD can be secreted out of the cell and can be detected in the culture medium and animal blood. Therefore, our study provides a valuable tool that not only noninvasive and real-time monitoring of cell pyroptosis, but also affords a high-throughput functional screening of pyroptosis-targeted compounds in cultured cells and animal models.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) and fluorescence imaging offer the possibility of precise and personalized treatment of cancer, but low singlet oxygen production of a commercial photosensitizer and the quenching effect of fluorescent dyes limit the further application of PDT treatment and fluorescence imaging. In addition, the single nanoplatform that simultaneously achieved singlet oxygen and fluorescence enhancement is rare. In this paper, a novel simultaneously enhanced singlet oxygen and fluorescence production nanoplatform of AuNR@mSiO2–Ce6–Cy5.5 has been successfully designed and synthesized by surface plasmon resonance coupling. The as-synthesized nanoplatform achieved a 1.8-fold enhancement of the singlet oxygen production of Ce6 and a 5.0-fold enhancement of the fluorescence production of Cy5.5 by surface plasmon resonance coupling. The as-synthesized nanoplatform simultaneously enhances the photodynamic therapy and fluorescence imaging of cancer, which will have great potential in biomedical applications.

The innovative PD-1/PD-L1 pathway strategy is gaining significant traction in cancer therapeutics. However, fluctuating response rates of 20–40% to PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, coupled with the risk of hyperprogression after immunotherapy, underscore the need for accurate patient selection and the identification of more beneficiaries. Molecular imaging, specifically near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging, is a valuable alternative for real-time, noninvasive visualization of dynamic PD-L1 expression in vivo. This research introduces AUNP-12, a novel PD-L1-targeting peptide antagonist conjugated with Cy5.5 and CH1055 for first (NIR-I) and second near-infrared (NIR-II) imaging. These probes have proven to be effective in mapping PD-L1 expression across various mouse tumor models, offering insights into tumor-immune interactions. This study highlights the potential of AUNP-12-Cy5.5 and AUNP-12-CH1055 for guiding clinical immunotherapy through precise patient stratification and dynamic monitoring, supporting the shift toward molecular imaging for personalized cancer care.

Cell detection is of great significance for biomedical research. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has been widely applied to the detection of cells. However, there is still a lack of a general, low-cost, rapid, and sensitive SERS method for cell detection. Herein, a dynamic liquid SERS platform, which combines label-free SERS technique with soft tubular microfluidics for cell detection, is proposed. Compared with common static solid and static liquid measurement, the dynamic liquid SERS platform can present dynamical mixing, precise control of the mixing time, and continuous spectra collection. By characterizing the model molecules, the proposed dynamic liquid SERS platform has successfully demonstrated good stability and repeatability with 1.90% and 4.98% relative standard deviation (RSD), respectively. Three cell lines including one normal breast cell line (MCF-10A) and two breast cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231) were investigated in this platform. 270 cell spectra were selected as the training set for the classification of the models based on the K-Nearest Neighbor (K-NN) algorithm. In three independent experiments, three types of cells were identified by a test set containing 180 cell spectra with sensitivities above 83.3% and specificities above 91.6%. The accuracy was 94.1 ± 1.14% among three independent cell identifications. The dynamic liquid SERS platform has shown higher signal intensity, better repeatability, less pretreatment, and obtainment of more spectra with less time consumption. It will be a powerful detection tool in the area of cell research, clinical diagnosis, and food safety.

Background: Acupuncture has been recommended as an alternative therapy for migraine. Emerging evidence suggests that the 5-HT7receptor (5-HT7R) plays a significant facilitatory role in descending modulation in migraine pathophysiology, and that activation of 5-HT7R in the descending pathway is involved in migraine central sensitisation.Objective: To investigate the ability of electroacupuncture (EA) to ameliorate central sensitisation via modulation of 5-HT7R in the descending pain pathways using a rat model of migraine induced by repetitive dural electrical stimulation (DES).Design: 64 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: Normal group; DES group (receiving dural electrical stimulation only); DES+GB20 group (DES model group treated with EA at GB20); and DES+Sham group (DES model group treated with EA at a non-traditional (sham) acupuncture point). The presence of cutaneous allodynia was determined by measuring facial and hind-paw withdrawal latencies to electronic von-Frey. The expression of 5-HT7R in the descending pathways (periaqueductal grey, raphe magnus nucleus, and trigeminal nucleus caudalis) was assessed using immunofluorescence and Western blotting.Results: Facial and hind-paw withdrawal thresholds were significantly increased in the DES+GB20 group compared with the untreated DES group. The expression of 5-HT7R was significantly decreased in the DES+GB20 group compared with the DES group (one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), P<0.05). No significant differences in behaviour or expression were found between the rats in the DES+Sham group and the untreated DES group (one-way ANOVA, P>0.05).Conclusion: EA at GB20 may ameliorate central sensitisation in migraine by inhibiting the activation of 5-HT7receptors in the descending pain pathway in a rat model of migraine.

Recently, 3D printing technology has been widely applied in microfluidics due to its capacity of three-dimensional construction, rapid and automatic fabrication, and less time consumption. However, a droplet-based PCR in 3D-printed microfluidic chips is rarely reported. In this study, a 3D-printed microfluidic chip was designed and fabricated for droplet-based PCR detection of miRNA-21. In this chip, the capacity of monodisperse droplet generation was demonstrated. Moreover, the temperature of the chip was uniform and sufficiently stable, meeting the requirement for the PCR process. In addition, the working conditions of the droplet-based PCR process in the 3D-printed chip were explored. Finally, the droplet-based PCR detection of miRNA-21 levels in the MCF-10A cells and MDA-MB-231 cells was successfully achieved using the 3D-printed chip. We expect that the enormous potential of 3D printing technology in the research area of microfluidics will be explored in the future.

In this work, we developed a small library of novel OBHS-RES hybrid compounds with dual inhibition activities targeting both the estrogen receptor α (ERα) and NF-κB by incorporating resveratrol (RES), a known inhibitor of NF-κB, into a privileged indirect antagonism structural motif (OBHS, oxabicycloheptene sulfonate) of estrogen receptor (ER). The OBHS-RES conjugates could bind well to ER and showed remarkable ERα antagonistic activity, and they also exhibited excellent NO inhibition in macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. Compared with 4-hydroxytamoxifen, some of them showed better antiproliferative efficacy in MCF-7 cell lines with IC50up to 3.7 μM. In vivo experiments in a MCF-7 breast cancer model in Balb/c nude mice indicated that compound 26awas more potent than tamoxifen. Exploration of the compliancy of the structure against ER specificity utilizing these types of isomeric three-dimensional ligands indicated that one enantiomer had much better biological activity than the other.

The ability to detect breast cancer early in its progression is essential to improve patient survival and quality of life. The noninvasive and dynamic imaging and functional assessments of estrogen receptor-alpha (ERα), which is commonly expressed at high levels in breast cancer, are important for effective diagnosis and treatment. Hence, the development of a specific ERα-targeted probe is a major research goal. To that end, in the present study, we created a novel near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe, IRDye800CW–E2, for targeted ERα imaging in breast-tumor-bearing mice. IRDye800CW–E2consisted of a cyanine dye IRDye800CW as the NIR fluorophore and the E2analogue ethinyl estradiol amine as an ERα targeting ligand. The ethinyl estradiol amine was initially labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) to evaluate the binding specificity to human breast-tumor cells in vitro. Flow chamber and in vitro confocal laser endomicroscopy imaging experiments demonstrated that FITC–E2was specifically taken up by MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, NIR fluorescence imaging revealed the ability of IRDye800CW–E2to rapidly target tumors and to achieve good contrast between tumors and background signal 4–48 h postinjection. The fluorescent signal of IRDye800CW–E2in tumors was successfully blocked by the coinjection of the endogenous ERα-ligand 17β-estradiol (E2) and the probe. Ex vivo fluorescent imaging further confirmed high uptake of the probe by tumors. These results indicated that IRDye800CW–E2has great potential as an ERα-targeted imaging probe for early breast-tumor detection and has potential for clinical translation.

Aspidin BB, a typical phloroglucinol derivative from Dryopteris fragrans,possesses significant antifungal property. This study aimed to investigate potential mechanism of antifungal activity of Aspidin BB against Trichophyton rubrumwhich is the most common pathogens responsible for chronic dermatophytosis.

Synthetic genetic biosensors that can operate at the transcriptional and translation levels have been widely applied in the control of cellular behaviors and functions. However, the regulation of genetic circuits is often accompanied by the introduction of exogenous substances or the endogenous generation of inhibitory products, which would bring uncontrollable hazards to biological safety and reduce the efficiency of the system. Here, we described a miRNA-responsive CopT-CopA (miCop) genetic biosensor system to realize real-time monitoring of the intracellular expression of miRNA-124a during neurogenesis or miRNA-122 under the stimulation of extracellular drugs in living cells and animals. Furthermore, to prove the modularity of the system, we engineered this miCop to tune the expression of the DTA (diphtheria toxin A) gene and showed its powerful capacity to kill cancer cells by inducing apoptosis and cell cycle arrest based on miRNA response. This study provides an effective means to couple miRNA sensing with miRNA-responsive gene modulation, which may open up new diagnostic or therapeutic applications.

Free radicals were generated from coal and biomass during co-pyrolysis. The aliphatic hydrocarbons were then generated by alkyl radical reactions.

Coal is absolute dominance in reserves-to-production ratio terms. The development of fuels derived from pyrolysis of low-rank coals is beneficial to lower fossil fuels cost and greenhouse gas emissions. The research proposal briefly summarized energy situation and sustainable development strategy as they were by 2013 at first. Then some recent process in the understanding of the pyrolysis behaviors of coal was reviewed. The influencing factors of atmospheres, additives, and catalysts during coal pyrolysis will be followed to literature. The review paper on pyrolysis characteristics will achieve the development of advanced technologies for the clean and efficient utilization of low-rank coals

An experimental study on co-pyrolysis of biomass and coal was performed in a tubular furnace for comparison of product (tar, water, gas and char) yields and composition. The coal sample selected was Huai Nan bituminous coal (HN), while the biomass used was cotton stalk (CS), and the blending ratio of biomass in mixtures was 0/100, 5/100, 10/100, 20/100, 30/100, and 50/100. The blends of coal and biomass were heated 600°C at 5°C/min, and then kept for 15 min during the pyrolysis. The results indicated that there exist synergetic effects in the co-pyrolysis of biomass and coal. The tar yield was 9.33% higher than the theoretical value at the CS blending ratio of 5/100. The maximum light oil content in tar was 9.67% higher than the theoretical value at the CS blending ratio of 10/100.

Nanocomposite membranes with enhanced performance were investigated for forward osmosis (FO) by incorporation of nanoporous materials. The incorporation of zeolite into both polysulfone (PSf) substrates and polyamide (PA) rejection layer of thin film composite (TFC) membrane (PSf-TFC) could effectively improve FO membrane performance. In the case of zeolite loading into PA layer, the resulted PSf based thin film nanocomposite (PSf-TFN) membrane showed improved but limited water permeability of the rejection layer, corresponding to ~1.76 times water flux higher than PSf-TFC membrane. Significantly, the polysulfone nanocomposite (PSfN) based TFC membrane (PSfN-TFC), which formed by embedding zeolite nanoparticles in PSf substrates, not only enhanced water permeability of the polyamide rejection layer but also reduced internal concentration polarization (ICP) effect, and thus improved FO membrane performance significantly, which corresponding to ~2.50 times water flux higher than PSf-TFC membrane.

A numerical simulation method for the wind field over complex terrain is developed in this paper. The complex terrain is represented by a surface, which is established by the surface spline method basing on the contour line of the map. Then it is divided into panels containing vortex ring singularities. The singularity distribution is solved by combining with the potential flow theory and the boundary condition of terrain surface. Finally, the wind field is simulated by linear superposition of the uniform stream and the induced velocity of vortex rings. A numerical example is studied, and the result indicates that the method proposed in this paper could describe the terrain much more accurately and provide a reasonable result of wind field distribution, but has a simple and efficient procedure, which is suitable for the engineering use in flight dynamics.

The pre-existing fractures in rock can close, open and growth as it subjected to mechanical or environment loading, which can in turn change the structure of the rock and alter its fluid flow properties. In order to study the crack growth processes of pre-existing fracture in rock under the condition of hydraulic and mechanical coupling, a numerical tool, named F-RFPA2D which takes into account the growth of existing fractures and the formation of new fractures, is used for this purpose. By considering the effect of hydraulic pressure filling into the wing crack, the behavior of fluid flow, damage evolution and their coupling action in the pre-existing and the newly formed fractures are studied in detail. The modeling results suggest that the hydraulic pressure in the crack enhanced the tensile stresses at the crack tips, resulting in crack growth path is different from that without hydraulic pressure loading. The wing crack growth mechanism under the coupling of hydraulic and mechanical is discussed, which provides a good reference for studying on the hydraulic fracturing in rock masses.

The biomass of rice straw was chosen to prepare the biomass semi-cokes which are characterized by nitrogen adsorption/desorption and Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). The influence of biomass semi-cokes activity on pore structure and surface properties of the semi-cokes was investigated. Denitration and mercury removal experiments were carried out in a fixed-bed reactor. The results show that the active biomass semi-cokes have more specific surface area and micro-pore volume than the biomass semi-cokes. It has direct relationship between the NO and mercury adsorption capacity. It is supposed that oxygen-containing functional and basic groups may have dominant effect on the mercury removal from the glue gas.

In order to avoid the problems of existing methods, a numerical simulation method for two-dimensional airflow over complex terrains is developed in this paper for the engineering use of flight dynamics. Based on the potential flow theories, the effects of terrains on the wind field are considered by a serial of two-dimensional vortexes, whose strengths are solved by combining with the ground boundary conditions. Numerical examples are studied by the proposed method, and the method is also evaluated by comparing the results with ones from the existing method. The result shows that the two- dimensional profile of complex terrains could be described by a cubic spline curve precisely. The computation procedure proposed in this paper is very simple and efficient, and it could provide a result of wind field with considerable accuracy. Therefore, this method could be used for flight principle evaluation and flight simulators.

Labadou was prepared according to the traditional technology of Southern China and its aqueous extract (AEL) was obtained. The oxygen radical scavenging capacity of AEL was assessed. The hypolipidemic effects in hyperlipidemic rats of AEL were investigated through designed sequential trials and by measuring serum lipid parameters. Results showed that AELexhibited significant ( p &lt; 0.01) scavenging potencies on superoxide and hydroxyl at a concentration of 10 mg/ml. It was also found that AEL could significantly reduce serum total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) concentrations and at same time markedly increased the high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels after 3 weeks treatment in tested rats. These results showed that Labadou had an excellent hypolipidemic activity and the peptides of low molecular mass from Labadou were one of the possible principles of bioactivity.

The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has become an attractive target for the treatment of cancer. A computational strategy based on comparative molecular fields analysis (CoMFA) and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis (CoMSIA) followed by molecular docking studies was performed on a series of 4- morpholinopyrrolopyrimidine derivatives and used to identify the most important features impacting their activity and their potential for predictability. The CoMFA and CoMSIA models using 31 molecules in the training set, gave r2 cv values of 0.832 and 0.815, r2 values of 0.969 and 0.951, respectively. Furthermore, the external validation was applied and indicated that our CoMFA and CoMSIA models were robust enough to predict the activities of test compounds with rpred 2 values of 0.975 and 0.968, r02 values of 0.971 and 0.972, rm2 values of 0.926 and 0.813, respectively. The contour maps produced by the CoMFA and CoMSIA models were employed to rationalize the key structural requirements responsible for the activity. Molecular docking was used to investigate the binding mode between these compounds and the receptor and furthermore, verify the reliability of the 3D-QSAR models. The information obtained from molecular modeling studies helped in understanding the structure-activity relationship of these compounds and served as a useful guide for the design of 4-morpholinopyrrolopyrimidine derivatives with desired activity. Thus a set of new analogues were designed by utilizing the results revealed in the present study, and were predicted with significantly improved potencies in the developed models.

This research applied a numerical code, RFPA2D (Realistic Failure Process Analysis) to evaluate the stability and investigate the failure mode of the high rock slope during excavations based on Strength Reduction Method (SRM). The corresponding shapes and positions of the potential slip surfaces are rationally simulated in different stages, and the related safety coefficients are obtained, which agrees well with the allowable minimum safety factors of the slope. The numerical results show that the safety coefficient drops from 1.25 at the natural state to 1.09 after excavation, and then increases to 1.35 after slope reinforcement. Moreover, the potential slip surface of the left bank moves into deep rock mass after taking support measures, which demonstrates the reinforcement is reasonable and efficient. The study shows that cracks and faults will cause crucial influences on the slope stability, and RFPA2D is a good tool to directly display the potential slip surface of the slope, which will offer valuable guidance for bolt support.

Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women and may become worse when a high concentration of hydrazine is absorbed from the environment or drug metabolite. Therefore, rapid and sensitive detection of hydrazine in vivois beneficial for people’s health. In this work, a novel estrogen receptor α (ERα)-targeted near-infrared fluorescence probe was designed to detect hydrazine levels. The probe showed good ERα affinity and an excellent fluorescence response toward hydrazine. Selectivity experiments demonstrated that the probe had a strong anti-interference ability. Mechanistic studies, including mass spectrometry (MS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculation, indicated that intermolecular charge transfer (ICT) progress was hindered when the probe reacted with hydrazine, resulting in fluorescent quenching. In addition, the probe could selectively bind to MCF-7 breast cancer cells with excellent biocompatibility. The in vivoand ex vivoimaging studies demonstrated that the probe could rapidly visualize hydrazine with high contrast in MCF-7 xenograft tumors. Therefore, this probe can serve as a potential tool to robustly monitor hydrazine levels in vivo.

Significant downsizing trend is currently directing the advanced microelectronic packaging industry, which poses new challenges to the manufacturing process and reliability of high-density chip interconnections. In this paper, to investigate the size effect of microbump joints on the interfacial structure and bonding strength, the chip-to-chip bonding joints fabricated by microbumps of same Cu/Ni/Sn-3.5Ag construction but of various sizes were experimentally examined. After thermocompression bonding process to fabricate the chip-to-chip microbump interconnections, the intermetallic compound (IMC) growth on the Ni/Sn-3.5Ag interface during 150 °C isothermal aging was compared for joints of 100, 40 and 25 μm in diameter as well as 35, 25 and 15 μm in solder layer height, using field emission electron microscopy and electron probe microanalysis. A clear size effect on the thickness and morphology of Ni3Sn4IMC was observed, showing thicker IMC in joints of smaller diameter and lower height. The Ni concentration distribution in the solder layer was verified to be dependent on the joint size, with possible reasons being enhanced sidewall diffusion and grain boundary diffusion through IMC grains in small-diametered joints, as well as shorter diffusion path in lower joints. The shear strength of chip-to-chip bonding vehicles was also found to be size-dependent. In addition, artificial neural network (ANN) approach was applied to establish the numerical correlation of structural factors and bonding strength. It was found that a properly constructed ANN model can successfully predict the influence of the complex combinations of geometric and interfacial factors with highly accurate output, providing an effective tool for design and optimization of microbump interconnection structures and processes.

Asymmetric Michael-type Friedel–Crafts (F-C) alkylations of indoles with nonchelating α,β-unsaturated aromatic ketones catalyzed by a chiral H8-BINOL-based phosphoric acid were investigated. The reactions took place smoothly in the presence of only 2 mol-% of catalyst at room temperature to afford the desired F-C alkylation products in good yields and with moderate enantioselectivities.(© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2008)

Synthesis of several new chiral phosphinamide catalysts with a proximal hydroxyl group from L‐serine was described. These compounds have been successfully used in the asymmetric catalytic borane reduction of prochiral ketones. The optically active secondary alcohols were obtained with an enantiomeric excess (ee) up to 81% and excellent yields. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 14:288–291, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.10145

Synthesis of several new chiral phosphinamide catalysts with a proximal hydroxyl group from L-serine was described. These compounds have been successfully used in the asymmetric catalytic borane reduction of prochiral ketones. The optically active secondary alcohols were obtained with an enantiomeric excess (ee) up to 81% and excellent yields. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 14:288–291, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.10145

A series of optically active N-protected α-aminoketones were synthesized via the Grignard reaction of the Weinreb amides of the N-tert-butoxycarbonyl amino acids. Reduction of the α-aminoketones by sodium borohydride resulted in the corresponding 1,2-amino alcohols. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 14:603–606, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.10195

A series of optically active N‐protected α‐aminoketones were synthesized via the Grignard reaction of the Weinreb amides of the N‐tert‐butoxycarbonyl amino acids. Reduction of the α‐aminoketones by sodium borohydride resulted in the corresponding 1,2‐amino alcohols. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heteroatom Chem 14:603–606, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/hc.10195

AbstractIn this paper is described the asymmetric cyclization of L-serine derivatives with phosphoro(no-)dichloridates or their thio-analogues, and investigated the asymmetric induction effect of chiral carbon centre on the forming chiral phosphorus centre. Some cyclization products have been separated as a pure diastereomer and their configuration is preliminarily discussed.

AbstractStarting from L-serine, cyclic thiophosphoramidate conjugates (2and 3) of Tegafur and uridine were synthesized via a multiple-step procedure of esterification, cyclic phosphorylation, and sulfurization, etc. L-serinoate was N-alkylated, then cyclized with phosphorus oxychloride, and further reacted with N3-(2-hydroxyethyl) Tegafur to afford cyclic phospholipid conjugate 4.The resultants (2, 3, and 4) were successfully separated in the form of pure diastereomer by column chromatography on silica gel. Their configurations were discussed and assigned according to their NMR spectra. The asymmetric induction effects of the carbon-based chiral centre on the diastereomer preference were also observed in these two synthetic phosphorylation cyclizations. The bioassay on their antitumor activities is under investigation.

AbstractStarting from L-serine, cyclic phospholids 2,3and 4were synthesized and successfully separated in the form of pure diastereomer. Their configurations were discussed and assigned according to their NMR spectra data. The asymmetric induction effects were also observed in two phosphorylation cyclizations.