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2,4(5)-Dinitroimidazole (2,4(5)-DNI) is an important energetic material, and it is also an important precursor for the preparation of drugs and energetic materials. In this study, the solubility of 2,4(5)-DNI in eleven pure solvents (chlorobenzene, benzene, 1,2-dichloroethane, toluene, water, isopropyl alcohol, ethyl acetate, acetonitrile, methanol, 1,4-dioxane and acetone) were measured by using a dynamic test method from 278.15 K to 323.15 K under 101.1 kPa. Four solubility models were used to fit the experimental data, which were ideal model, modified Apelblat equation, polynomial empirical equation, and λh equation. Meanwhile, the relative average deviation and root-mean-square deviation between the experimental data and the fitted data were also calculated. Furthermore, the three thermodynamic parameters, i.e., dissolution enthalpy, dissolution entropy and Gibbs energy were obtained based on solubility data. Finally, the crude product of 2,4(5)-DNI was crystallized with acetone as solvent, and the purity of the crystalline product was greater than 99.5%.

This paper investigates the event-triggered consensus problem of second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems subject to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, which make the communication network unable to provide normal services. Considering a general class of DoS attack with limited duration, a novel distributed event-triggered consensus protocol accompanied with first-order hold is adopted to guarantee the globally bounded consensus convergence under directed network topology. Based on the linear matrix inequality approach and Lyapunov stability method, consensus converging properties are analysed and sufficient criteria are obtained. Furthermore, Zeno-free triggering of our proposed protocol is demonstrated. Finally, a numerical simulation is given to show the effectiveness of our theoretical results.

In this paper, consensus problem is studied for the first-order nonlinear multi-agent systems under directed topology, and a novel event-triggered consensus protocol is proposed. Different from the existing results with general zero-order hold, the first-order hold is adopted to construct the event-triggered control signal so as to reduce the triggering rate. By using Lyapunov stability method and matrix theory, a sufficient consensus condition is derived for the agents to reach the asymptotic consensus, and Zeno-behavior can be avoided. Finally, a numerical example is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed protocol.

Consensus problem with faster convergence rate of consensus problem has been considered in this paper. Adding more edges such as that connecting each agent and its second-nearest neighbor or changing the consensus protocol such as mixing asymptotic terms and terms of finite-time has been proved to be possible ways in increasing the convergence rate of multi-agent system in this paper. Based on analysis of Laplacian matrix, increasing of the convergence rate has been proved using the second-smallest eigenvalue for the first method. Concerning the second method, advantages of asymptotic consensus protocol and finite-time consensus protocol have been mixed together with the help of homogeneity function and theory of Lyapunov. Simulation results using matlab are also presented to illustrate the newly designed consensus protocols in increasing the convergence rate.

In this paper, the solubility of 4-nitroimidazole in twelve pure solvents (toluene, benzene, 1,4-dioxane, acetonitrile, ethyl acetate, acetone, GBL, ethanol, methanol, n-butanol, DMF and NMP) were determined by using the laser monitoring system from 278.15 K to 323.15 K under 101.1 kPa, which are 0.00018–0.00070, 0.00021–0.00073, 0.00034–0.00092, 0.00038–0.00142, 0.00047–0.00120, 0.00126–0.00303, 0.00225–0.00517, 0.00310–0.00724, 0.00467–0.00982, 0.00453–0.01940, 0.01947–0.04652, and 0.04670–0.07452, respectively. At constant temperature, the mole fraction solubility of 4-nitroimidazole were increased as the following order: toluene

Resibufogenin (RB) has been used for cancer treatment, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effects of RB treatment on colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, and to determine the underlying mechanisms. The cell counting kit-8 assay was used to determine cell viability. Cell morphology was observed under light microscopy, and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling assay was employed to detect cell apoptosis. Intracellular ferrous iron (Fe2+ ), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), and reactive oxygen species levels were detected by using commercial iron assay kit, MDA assay kit, GSH assay kit, and 2,7-dichlorodihydrofluorescein diacetate probes, respectively. The protein expressions were determined by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. RB inhibited cell viability in the CRC cell lines (HT29 and SW480) in a dose- and time-dependent manner, and caused cytotoxicity to the normal colonic epithelial cell line (NCM460) at high dose. Similarly, RB induced morphological changes in CRC cells from normal to round shape, and promoted cell death. Of note, RB triggered oxidative stress and ferroptotic cell death in CRC cells, and only ferroptosis inhibitors (deferoxamine and ferrostatin-1), instead of inhibitors for other types of cell death (apoptosis, autophagy, and necroptosis), reversed the inhibitory effects of RB on CRC cell proliferation. Furthermore, glutathione peroxidase 4 (GPX4) was inactivated by RB treatment, and overexpression of GPX4 alleviated RB-induced oxidative cell death in CRC cells. Consistently, the in vivo experiments validated that RB also triggered oxidative stress, and inhibited CRC cells growth and tumorigenicity in mice models. RB can inhibit CRC cells growth and tumorigenesis by triggering ferroptotic cell death in a GPX4 inactivation-dependent manner.

A large number of efficient cyanation methods have been developed because of the wide range of applications of nitriles, but conventional methods usually suffer from the need for a toxic cyanation reagent. Although difluorocarbene chemistry has received increasing attention, the use of difluorocarbene as a sources of the nitrile carbon for nitrile groups remains largely unexplored. We describe a difluorocarbene-based cyanation of aryl iodides promoted by a cheap copper source, Cu(NO3)2·2.5H2O, under an air atmosphere. Ph3P+CF2CO2 –, an easily available and shelf-stable difluorocarbene reagent, and NaNH2 are used as the carbon source and the nitrogen source for the nitrile group, respectively. The cyanation protocol is attractive because no toxic reagent is used and performing the reactions under an air atmosphere is operationally convenient.

Evacuation of crowds in a corridor with only one exit has been considered in this paper where distributed controllers have been constructed to regulate the crowd’s evacuation speed so that stampede tragedy can be avoided. Macroscopic model for crowds of pedestrians has been firstly derived based on inspiration of LWR (Lighthill-Whitham and Richards) model and Greenshields model from traffic system where finite volume method has been introduced to simplify the obtained PDEs into finite ODEs. Distributed evacuation controllers have been constructed based on inspiration of multi-agent system and stability analysis of obtained closed-loop system has been simplified to linear system with the delicate controllers proposed. Comparisons between distributed evacuation controllers and previous evacuation controllers have also been presented to show the advantages and disadvantages of different controllers under different initial density of crowds so that tragedy of crowd stampede can be effectively avoided with appropriate selection of different controllers.

The majority of commercial polyolefins are produced by coordination polymerization using early or late transition metal catalysts. Molecular catalysts containing these transition metals (Ti, Zr, Cr, Ni, and Fe, etc.) are loaded on supports for controlled polymerization behavior and polymer morphology in slurry or gas phase processes. Within the last few years, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a class of unique porous crystalline materials constructed from metal ions/clusters and organic ligands, have been designed and utilized as excellent supports for heterogeneous polymerization catalysis whose high density and uniform distribution of active sites would benefit the modulations of molecular weight distributions of high-performance olefin oligomers and (co)polymers. Impressive efforts have been made to modulate the microenvironment surrounding the active centers at the atomic level for improved activities of MOFs-based catalysts and controlled selectivity of olefin insertion. This review aims to draw a comprehensive picture of MOFs for coordination olefin oligomerization and (co)polymerization in the past decades with respect to different transition metal active centers, various incorporation sites, and finally microenvironment modulation. In consideration of more efforts are needed to overcome challenges for further industrial and commercial application, a brief outlook is provided.

Described here is the radical-mediated hydrodifluoromethylation of alkenes that occurs under transition-metal-free conditions by using the phosphonium salt [Ph3P+CF2H]Br− under the irradiation of 26 W household compact fluorescent light. The reaction lends itself to a convenient protocol for the installation of a C–CF2H bond while maintaining good functional group tolerance.

The development of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts with high activity and high stability through convenient and economical methods is greatly important for the promotion of hydrogen energy based on electrolysis technology. Herein, by using an unconventional high electrodeposition potential, novel petal-like clusters constructed by cross-linking ultrathin nickel hydroxide nanosheets were controllably synthesized on nickel foam (or copper foam or carbon cloth) and the effect of electrodeposition conditions on their OER performance was carefully explored. Due to the abundant catalytically active sites, promoting electron conduction/mass transmission from the specific micro-nano structure, as well as the ultrasmall thickness of ∼3.0 nm, the optimized α-Ni(OH)2/NF self-supporting electrode exhibits excellent electrocatalytic performance for OER, merely requiring low overpotentials of 192 and 240 mV to yield current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M KOH, respectively, which surpassed those of all of the reported nickel hydroxide/oxides and the benchmark RuO2. Moreover, α-Ni(OH)2/NF can drive the high-current density (500-1000 mA cm-2) OER at low overpotentials, meeting the requirements of potential industrial applications.

Problem of surrounding control where two or more agents (herders) surrounding a known target has been considered in this paper. Different to the previous study where only the position information of the target has been included in the repulsion between herders and the target, information of velocity has been further utilized and finite-times controllers have been constructed in the end. Surrounding control of one reference target have been successfully realized using the finite time controller proposed in this paper no matter the desired trajectory is persistent or not such as circular movement or moving along a straight line. Simulations using Matlab are also presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the results of this paper.

As trifluoromethylthiolation has received increasing attention recently, many CF3S-reagents and trifluoromethylthiolation methods have been developed. Herein we describe trifluoromethylthiolation of alkyl halides by using Ph3P+CF2CO2− as a fluoride and difluorocarbene source. Difluorocarbene is a versatile intermediate, but its side reactions are usually ignored and the by-products would therefore be discarded. In this work, a side reaction of difluorocarbene, the generation of a fluoride anion from difluorocarbene, was developed into a synthetic tool. Although the trifluoromethylthiolation reaction involved multi-sequential steps, the cleavage of C–F bond, the formation of CF2=S bond, F-C(S)F2 bond, and C-SCF3 bond, the conversion proceeded fast and was completed within 10 min.

Cooperative path following control problem of multiple nonholonomic mobile robots has been considered in this paper. Based on the framework of decomposition, the cooperative path following problem has been transformed into path following problem and cooperative control problem; Then cascaded theory of non-autonomous system has been employed in the design of controllers without resorting to feedback linearization. One time-varying coordinate transformation based on dilation has been introduced to solve the uncontrollable problem of nonholonomic robots when the whole group's reference converges to stationary point. Cooperative path following controllers for nonholonomic robots have been proposed under persistent reference or reference target that converges to stationary point respectively. Simulation results using Matlab have illustrated the effectiveness of the obtained theoretical results.

Modeling of the two-alternative decision making process for evacuation of crowds of pedestrians from bounded room has been considered in this paper under the framework of Calculus of Fractional Order. Dynamic decision making models of fractional order have been presented under symmetric interactions and asymmetric interactions, respectively. Stability analysis under asymmetric interactions has been studied using linear approximation. Final value of the collective opinion under asymmetric interactions is dependent on the initial distribution of crowd’s opinions while it is not the case for symmetric interactions. Future work based on the results of this paper are also discussed at the end of this paper.

Rendezvous problem of nonholonomic unicycles has been considered in this paper and nonlinear distributed controllers based on backstepping are constructed to guarantee the consensus of both position and direction simultaneously. Cascaded theory of nonlinear system is utilised to reduce the rendezvous problem of nonholonomic unicycles to consensus problem of moving direction and consensus problem of position, respectively. The uncontrollable challenge of position system after consensus of moving direction has been successfully removed through dilated coordinate transformation. Then, a modified backstepping methodology based on the coupling structure of position system is derived to guarantee the consensus of each unicycle's position. In the end, not only consensus of position but also consensus of direction has been realised for multiple nonholonomic unicycles using the controllers proposed in this paper. Simulation results using Matlab illustrate the effectiveness of the results of this paper.

Cathode design is indispensable for building Li-O2 batteries with long cycle life. A composite of carbon-wrapped Mo2C nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes is prepared on Ni foam by direct hydrolysis and carbonization of a gel composed of ammonium heptamolybdate tetrahydrate and hydroquinone resin. The Mo2C nanoparticles with well-controlled particle size act as a highly active oxygen reduction reactions/oxygen evolution reactions (ORR/OER) catalyst. The carbon coating can prevent the aggregation of the Mo2C nanoparticles. The even distribution of Mo2C nanoparticles results in the homogenous formation of discharge products. The skeleton of porous carbon with carbon nanotubes protrudes from the composite, resulting in extra voids when applied as a cathode for Li-O2 batteries. The batteries deliver a high discharge capacity of ≈10 400 mAh g−1 and a low average charge voltage of ≈4.0 V at 200 mA g−1. With a cutoff capacity of 1000 mAh g−1, the Li-O2 batteries exhibit excellent charge–discharge cycling stability for over 300 cycles. The average potential polarization of discharge/charge gaps is only ≈0.9 V, demonstrating the high ORR and OER activities of these Mo2C nanoparticles. The excellent cycling stability and low potential polarization provide new insights into the design of highly reversible and efficient cathode materials for Li-O2 batteries.

A novel three-dimensional nested saturation controller has been proposed for UAV carrying a load. The method is designed to suppress the effect of swaying caused by the UAV’s load without limit to the position and speed of the UAV. Firstly, the three-dimensional model of the UAV is decoupled into two independent dynamic systems according the analysis of the UAV model and nested saturation controller is designed separately. Secondly, the stability of the method is verified under the framework of ISS. Finally the simulations based on Matlab have been conducted to illustrate the method proposed in this paper.

To lower the overpotential of a lithium-oxygen battery, electron transport at the solid-to-solid interface between the discharge product Li2O2 and the cathode catalyst is of great significance. Here we propose a strategy to enhance electron transport property of the cathode catalyst by the replace of oxygen atoms in the generally used metal oxide-based catalysts with nitrogen atoms to improve electron density at Fermi energy after nitridation. Hierarchically porous CoN nanorods were obtained by thermal treatment of Co3O4 nanorods under ammonia atmosphere at 350 °C. Compared with that of the pristine Co3O4 precursor before nitridation, the overpotential of the obtained CoN cathode was significantly decreased. Moreover, specific capacity and cycling stability of the CoN nanorods were enhanced. It is assumed that the discharged products with different morphologies for Co3O4 and CoN cathodes might be closely associated with the variation in the electronic density induced by occupancy of nitrogen atoms into interstitial sites of metal lattice after nitridation. The nitridation strategy for improved electron density proposed in this work is proved to be a simple but efficient way to improve the electrochemical performance of metal oxide based cathodes for lithium-oxygen batteries.

A large number of trifluoromethylthiolation methods have been developed, but a trifluoromethylthiolation reagent usually has to be used in these methods. Herein we describe a difluorocarbene-based trifluoromethylthiolation of terminal alkynes to construct a Csp SCF3 bond catalysed by a copper complex. Ph3P+CF2CO2−/S8/F− was used as a reagent system to form the CF3S− anion, and the sequential formation of CF2 S, F CF2S and C SCF3 bonds was achieved in a one-step process.