Chain Architecture Research Articles

Mixed-Ligand Co(II) Coordination Polymer: Application in Osteoporosis Treatment Through Wnt Signaling Pathway Activation

A novel Co(II)-based coordination polymer (CP) with the molecular formula [Co(oba)(bpe)0.5(H2O)]n(1, in which H2oba is 2,2′-oxybis[benzoic acid] and bpe is 1,2-bis[4-pyridyl]ethylene) was successfully generated through the mixed-ligand approach under solvothermal reaction conditions. Architectural analysis revealed that CP1exhibited a one-dimensional ladder chain architecture that was expanded into a two-dimensional net architecture via O–H…O H bonding between carboxylic acid O atoms and water molecules. The CP’s application in osteoporosis treatment and care was explored, and its specific mechanism was also analyzed. The results of molecular docking simulation proved that the fragments on the Co complex had different functionalities. Specifically, the fragments containing carboxyl groups were responsible for the observed activities on the target protein. By contrast, fragments containing pyridine rings were inactive and instead acted as the ligands of the Co complex.

Connections Between System of System Sustainability and Resilience in an Electric Motor Manufacturing Supply Chain

Systems of Systems combine constituent systems (such as financial, transportation, energy, food, and water) to improve performance. System of Systems employment, however, often requires additional material and infrastructure investment. Due to their widespread use, it is essential that Systems of Systems are sustainable. One approach to increasing Systems of Systems sustainability is to increase its resilience (e.g. a less-resilient System of Systems would require additional resources to recover from a fault). The need for increased Systems of Systems resilience inspired our research question: How does SoS resilience change environmental impact during post-fault operation? To examine this research question, a model of an electric motor supply chain is examined. The supply chain architecture is divided into two parallel supply chains servicing four distribution centers. If supply to a distribution center is disrupted, the non-impacted supply chain can provide motors, but at a changed use-phase impact due to new shipping routes (e.g. further geographic distance). To answer our research question, each of the 14 constituents were disrupted one at a time, supply rerouting occurred as necessary, and the change in operational impact is reported (additional km of supply chain travel per week. This study provides key evidence that even if System of System infrastructure repair could occur without impact, changes in operational impact is an important factor for decision makers. Additionally, this paper provides case study evidence supporting the claim that improved resilience can improve System of Systems sustainability.

Ultra-dense interferometric chain architecture for datacom and telecom applications

Further increase in the density of integrated planar lightwave circuits (PLCs) depends on the introduction of compact guided-wave layout solutions. We describe a novel architecture for coiling multistage interferometric devices with densities reaching the theoretical limit. Our approach is validated by the design, fabrication, and deployment of state-of-the-art PLCs based on the proposed architecture for use in datacom and telecom applications.

Role of chain architecture in the solution phase assembly and thermoreversibility of aqueous PNIPAM/silyl methacrylate copolymers.

Stimuli-responsive polymers functionalized with reactive inorganic groups enable creation of macromolecular structures such as hydrogels, micelles, and coatings that demonstrate smart behavior. Prior studies using poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide-co-3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl methacrylate) (P(NIPAM-co-TMA)) have stabilized micelles and produced functional nanoscale coatings; however, such systems show limited responsiveness over multiple thermal cycles. Here, polymer architecture and TMA content are connected to the aqueous self-assembly, optical response, and thermo-reversibility of two distinct types of PNIPAM/TMA copolymers: random P(NIPAM-co-TMA), and a 'blocky-functionalized' copolymer where TMA is localized to one portion of the chain, P(NIPAM-b-NIPAM-co-TMA). Aqueous solution behavior characterized via cloud point testing (CPT), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and variable-temperature nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) demonstrates that thermoresponsiveness and thermoreversibility over multiple cycles is a strong function of polymer configuration and TMA content. Despite low TMA content (≤2% mol), blocky-functionalized copolymers assemble into small, well-ordered structures above the cloud point that lead to distinct transmittance behaviors and stimuli-responsiveness over multiple cycles. Conversely, random copolymers form disordered aggregates at elevated temperatures, and only exhibit thermoreversibility at negligible TMA fractions (0.5% mol); higher TMA content leads to irreversible structure formation. This understanding of the architectural and assembly effects on the thermal cyclability of aqueous PNIPAM-co-TMA can be used to improve the scalability of responsive polymer applications requiring thermoreversible behavior, including sensing, separations, and functional coatings.

Research on Agricultural Supply Chain Architecture Based on Edge Computing and Efficiency Optimization

This paper proposes the classification standard of supply chain structure from three different aspects: the complexity of the supply chain node enterprises, the reliability of the supply chain, and the optimization goal. In addition, this article starts from the characteristics of agriculture itself, according to the actual needs of the agricultural supply chain, considers the feasibility of the solution strategy from different sides, and gives related models, which solve the related problems in the agricultural supply chain to a certain extent. At present, there are many resource allocation algorithms at the edge of mobile networks, but the existing resource allocation algorithms still have the problem of high computational complexity and can still solve the above problems in resource utilization optimization. In order to solve these problems, this paper proposes a system architecture of the agricultural industry Internet of Things based on edge computing. The main motivations of this article are to improve the stability and usability of the system, and to enhance agricultural wisdom, so as to provide a reference for the development of precision agriculture. According to this method, Firstly, from the perspective of how to improve the energy efficiency of mobile terminals, methods to improve the energy efficiency of mobile terminals are studied in multi-user systems where mobile terminals compete for MEC servers with limited computing resources. Then, this paper focuses on the waste of computing resources caused by user movement under the scenario of limited server coverage in MEC system and studies the problem from the perspective of effective management of computing resources. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has good performance.

Blockchain-Based Supply Chain Information Sharing Mechanism

This paper proposes a blockchain-based supply chain information operation method to solve the current shortage of business information sharing in the supply chain. These approaches include the idea of blockchain application to realize the sharing of supply chain information, the supply chain architecture of production enterprises based on blockchain, and the hierarchical model of supply chain information flow based on blockchain. This paper proposes the information block recording method of internal and external data sources in the supply chain, including the composition structure and the analysis of the multisource data inside and outside the supply chain. In addition, the multisource data information block recording method is also proposed. Building a blockchain-based supply chain system can improve the integration and reconstruction capabilities of the supply chain. The information recording of the internal data of the supply chain and the external related multisource data in the block can improve the learnability of the supply chain. The internal and external information block connection of the supply chain system is the further integration and reconstruction of the supply chain information resources in the blockchain system. The information storage and access control of the blockchain-based supply chain is an information security guarantee system in the supply chain information sharing environment. Through the method of this study, the system can form a business architecture system based on blockchain-based supply chain information sharing.

HOMOMORPHIC ENCRYPTION IN 5IRE BLOCKCHAIN

With the advent of blockchain technology, decentralized system is gaining huge popularity as it provides a new solution for data storage and sharing as well as keeping privacy in place. Blockchains are of two categories; public and private. Public blockchains are permissionless, mostly used for exchanging and mining cryptocurrency, where anyone can join and thus exposed to the risk of a privacy breach. If the content is the transaction information, one might opt for not sharing these data in the public domain. One solution could be to encrypt the information, but that comes at the cost of losing the usability of the data. This paper investigates the security problem related to this passive adversarial activity and proposes a new technology that leverages the best parallel chain architecture of 5ire blockchain and homomorphic encryption (HE) so as to retain the advantages of a public blockchain without compromising the privacy of transaction information. We have coined the term 5ireHE for this encryption architecture. We achieve the security protection and integrity check of wallet data by enforcing the 5ireHE which is efficient.

Rational design of hydrogen bonds for driving thermo-responsive phase transition and assembly behavior of block copolymer in water

Hydrogen bonding interactions were intensified in the present study by adjusting the chain architectures, which provided a sufficient driving force for UCST phase transition in pure water.

Agriculture-Food Supply Chain Management Based on Blockchain and IoT: A Narrative on Enterprise Blockchain Interoperability

Modern-day agriculture supply chains have evolved from sovereign and autonomous local stakeholders to a worldwide interconnected system of multiple participants linked by complicated interactions, impacting the production, processing, transportation, and delivery of food to end consumers. Regular instances of fraudulent acts reveal a lack of openness in agriculture supply chains, raising worries about financial losses, eroding customer trust, and lowering corporate brand value. To develop an efficient and reliable trading environment, several fundamental modifications in the present supply chain architecture are required. There is broad consensus that blockchain can improve transparency in agriculture-food supply chains (agri-food SCs). Consumers now demand safe, sustainable, and equitable food production processes, and businesses are using blockchains and the internet of things to meet these needs. For enhanced responsiveness in agri-food SCs, new concepts have evolved that combine blockchains with various Industry 5.0 technologies (e.g., blockchain technology, big data, internet of things (IoT), radio frequency identification (RFID), near field communication (NFC), etc.). It is critical to cut through the hype and examine the technology’s limits, which might stymie its acceptance, implementation, and scalability in agri-food supply chains. This study presents Agri-SCM-BIoT (Agriculture Supply Chain Management using Blockchain and Internet of things) architecture to address the storage and scalability optimization, interoperability, security and privacy issues security, and privacy of personal data along with storage concerns with present single-chain agriculture supply chain systems. We also discussed the classification of security threats with IoT infrastructure and possible available blockchain-based defense mechanisms. Finally, we discussed the features of the proposed supply chain architecture, followed by a conclusion and future work.

Facile anchoring mussel adhesive mimic tentacles on biodegradable polymer cargo carriers via self-assembly for microplastic-free cosmetics

Enhancing the deposition of fragrance delivery systems contained in personal care products on target surfaces is crucial for increasing the longevity of scent, efficiently utilizing expensive functional compounds and limiting the generation of microplastics in domestic waste water. In this work, we designed and synthesized a new type of biomimetic macromolecules, chitosan-graft-L-lysine-L-DOPA (C-L-D), as a versatile biodegradable adhesion promoter to facilitate the deposition of biodegradable fragrance carriers on diverse surfaces including hair, cotton and skin. The C-L-D has hyperbranched chain architecture with many oligopeptide adhesive tentacles, each being a simple mimic of mussel adhesive proteins. It also exhibits unique amphiphilic characteristic. As a result, it could be facilely anchored on cargo-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticle surface via self-assembly in the particle preparation process. The C-L-D-modified nanoparticles show significantly higher deposition efficiencies than polyvinyl alcohol- and chitosan-coated particles when deposited on the target surfaces in different aqueous media as the lysine and DOPA units are capable of providing multi-noncovalent interactions, including electrostatic, polar, hydrophobic interactions, and bidentate hydrogen bonds, with the target surfaces, and possibly also inducing oxidative cross-linking. A much higher retention rate of the C-L-D-modified nanoparticles on cotton surface is also observed after washing with a soap solution, which could be attributed to the significant role played by bidentate hydrogen bonds. These findings suggest that C-L-D is a versatile biodegradable adhesion promoter and has the potential to be applied for various personal care applications and beyond.

Triterpene Glycosides from the Far Eastern Sea Cucumber Psolus chitonoides: Chemical Structures and Cytotoxicities of Chitonoidosides E1, F, G, and H.

Four new triterpene disulfated glycosides, chitonoidosides E1 (1), F (2), G (3), and H (4), were isolated from the Far-Eastern sea cucumber Psolus chitonoides and collected near Bering Island (Commander Islands) at depths of 100–150 m. Among them there are two hexaosides (1 and 3), differing from each other by the terminal (sixth) sugar residue, one pentaoside (4) and one tetraoside (2), characterized by a glycoside architecture of oligosaccharide chains with shortened bottom semi-chains, which is uncommon for sea cucumbers. Some additional distinctive structural features inherent in 1–4 were also found: the aglycone of a recently discovered new type, with 18(20)-ether bond and lacking a lactone in chitonoidoside G (3), glycoside 3-O-methylxylose residue in chitonoidoside E1 (1), which is rarely detected in sea cucumbers, and sulfated by uncommon position 4 terminal 3-O-methylglucose in chitonoidosides F (2) and H (4). The hemolytic activities of compounds 1–4 and chitonoidoside E against human erythrocytes and their cytotoxic action against the human cancer cell lines, adenocarcinoma HeLa, colorectal adenocarcinoma DLD-1, and monocytes THP-1, were studied. The glycoside with hexasaccharide chains (1, 3 and chitonoidoside E) were the most active against erythrocytes. A similar tendency was observed for the cytotoxicity against adenocarcinoma HeLa cells, but the demonstrated effects were moderate. The monocyte THP-1 cell line and erythrocytes were comparably sensitive to the action of the glycosides, but the activity of chitonoidosides E and E1 (1) significantly differed from that of 3 in relation to THP-1 cells. A tetraoside with a shortened bottom semi-chain, chitonoidoside F (2), displayed the weakest membranolytic effect in the series.

Architecture of chitosan chains withsulfur‐dopedcarbon dots along with decoratingCeO2nanoparticles for the photocatalytic application

AbstractDiazinon insecticide from the group of phosphorus pesticides is widely used in pest control. This pesticide can seep into water resources from used agricultural areas and pose a threat to the environment. An economical method to eliminate of pesticides is the degradation in the presence of sunlight, which intensifies the need to design and manufacture new generation photocatalysts with suitable bandgaps to accelerate the process of optical degradation. Nanopolymers with active optical properties can be helpful in this regard In the present study, a new generation of nanopolymers was synthesized by cross‐linking of chitosan with nitrogen and sulfur‐doped carbon dots. In the following, the prepared nanopolymer was decorated and reinforced with nanoceria and confirmation of the structure was done by different techniques such as Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), thermogravimetric (TGA), and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) After that, the photocatalyst's ability to optically degrade the diazinon organophosphorus toxin was evaluated which yielded promising results.

Entropy Reduced Charge Transport and Energy Loss in Interfacial Zones of Polymer Nanocomposites

Polymer nanocomposites have higher energy storage density, much lower conductivity, and energy loss than the polymer matrices. The excellent performance may be originated from the deep-level localized states introduced by the interfacial zones between nanofillers and polymer matrices. However, the essential relation between the deep-level localized states and the composition, architecture, and configuration of polymer chains is still not clear. We investigate the temperature dependences of electrical conductivities of three types of energy storage polymer nanocomposites and find that they all obey the Meyer-Neldel (MN) compensation rule and the prefactor has an exponential relationship with the MN energy. It is found that the kinetic energy of electrons in the extended states of nanocomposites is the MN energy, which is related to the excitation of electrons by optical phonons. We propose to redefine the energy of localized states by the energy of optical phonons and the entropy of molecular conformations. It is found that the shape parameter of localized state distribution is related to the optical phonons and controlled by the composition, structure, and configuration of polymer chains, while the density of localized states is determined by the conformation and aggregate structure. We propose an optical phonon and entropy activated charge transport model, and the obtained conductivity equation is consistent with the experimental results. The entropy of molecular conformations can be used as a key factor to tailor the conductivity and energy loss of polymer nanocomposites. It provides a new perspective to study how to improve the energy storage performance of polymer nanocomposites.

Facile Synthesis of Hyperbranched Ethylene Oligomers and Ethylene/Methyl Acrylate Co-oligomers with Different Microscopic Chain Architectures.

Low-molecular-weight (MW) ethylene oligomers with hyperbranched microstructures are often difficult to be synthesized by traditional catalytic processes. In this study, a series of N-terphenyl iminopyridyl ligands and the corresponding Pd(II) and Ni(II) complexes bearing remote conjugated substituents with different electronic effects (H, Me, F, Cl, and tBu) were synthesized in a simple and efficient way. These Pd(II) and Ni(II) complexes were highly effective in the ethylene oligomerization and co-oligomerization with methyl acrylate (MA). Low-MW ethylene oligomers with hyperbranched microstructures were generated using the iminopyridyl Pd(II) and Ni(II) complexes in ethylene oligomerization. More importantly, polar functionalized ethylene-MA co-oligomers with low MWs and varying incorporation ratios were generated via ethylene and MA co-oligomerization using the Pd(II) complexes. Most notably, these ethylene oligomers obtained by different metal species showed a significant difference in microscopic chain architectures. The remote conjugated electron effect showed little effect on the polymerization parameters of the iminopyridyl system, which is very different from those of the salicylaldiminato system.

Branched ubiquitin chain binding and deubiquitination by UCH37 facilitate proteasome clearance of stress-induced inclusions.

UCH37, also known as UCHL5, is a highly conserved deubiquitinating enzyme (DUB) that associates with the 26S proteasome. Recently, it was reported that UCH37 activity is stimulated by branched ubiquitin (Ub) chain architectures. To understand how UCH37 achieves its unique debranching specificity, we performed biochemical and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) structural analyses and found that UCH37 is activated by contacts with the hydrophobic patches of both distal Ubs that emanate from a branched Ub. In addition, RPN13, which recruits UCH37 to the proteasome, further enhances branched-chain specificity by restricting linear Ub chains from having access to the UCH37 active site. In cultured human cells under conditions of proteolytic stress, we show that substrate clearance by the proteasome is promoted by both binding and deubiquitination of branched polyubiquitin by UCH37. Proteasomes containing UCH37(C88A), which is catalytically inactive, aberrantly retain polyubiquitinated species as well as the RAD23B substrate shuttle factor, suggesting a defect in recycling of the proteasome for the next round of substrate processing. These findings provide a foundation to understand how proteasome degradation of substrates modified by a unique Ub chain architecture is aided by a DUB.

Blockchain integrated flexible vaccine supply chain architecture: Excavate the determinants of adoption

Infectious diseases a curse for humanity can be curbed through immunization. Vaccination can make people more resilient toward infectious diseases and the safety of the vaccine is of prime importance for public health. A smart vaccine management system can address the issue of vaccine expiration and counterfeiting. The study was conducted in twofolds: Stage I, a quantitative cross-sectional survey design was deployed to understand stakeholder adoption intention (ADI) toward blockchain-enabled vaccine supply chain through extended technology adoption model using partial least square structural equation modeling. Findings entail stakeholders' trust and perceived ease of use for blockchain-enabled vaccine supply chain directly affect perceived usefulness (PUS) and individual subjective norm. PUS significantly influences the ADI of stakeholders toward blockchain in the vaccine supply chain. Stage II, a blockchain integrated vaccine supply chain architecture with Internet of things devices was proposed to bring transparency and flexibility to the vaccine supply chain. Architecture would benefit the beneficiary to approve or disapprove the vaccines through the self-generated report and medical health centers can see the efficacy of vaccines before clinical delivery to patients.

Distributed architecture for a supply chain by integrating a multi- agent approach using simulation

This study proposes an architecture based on multiple agents through a Colored Petri Net model (CPN), which enables the integration of supply chain links and information technology to speed up the production process and services. The methodology was developed based on three fundamental concepts: CPN as design tool, Supply Chain (SC) Architecture and Multi-Agent Systems (MAS). As a case study, a typical supply chain in the Colombian production system was considered. As a case study, a typical supply chain in the Colombian production system was considered. For this, the study developed a modeling procedure to transform its supply chain architecture from a typical structure to a multi-agent structure. This procedure consists of seven phases. Initially, the case study is characterized as a supply chain, then the information is collected, next the limitations of the supply chain are identified, then the variables and their interactions are defined. In the following two phases, three models are developed: the structural model, representing the physical distribution of the plant; the conceptual model, that relates the system components and their interactions; and the functional model, which integrates the previous models and associates them with the behavior of the variables during the process ow. Finally, a qualitative and quantitative validation of the models are performed, simulating different scenarios. The results show that a distributed supply chain structure, using multi-agent architecture, first, offers robust information and physical flows, and secondly, contributes to supply time reduction, communication quickness, efficiency and quality of information for operational decision making. The results could also motivate organizations to integrate the supply chains considering MASs in resource management.

Implications of surfactant hydrophobic chain architecture on the Surfactant-Skin lipid model interaction

Although surfactants have been widely used in skin care and other related applications, our knowledge about how surfactants interact with stratum corneum (SC) lipids remains limited. This work reports how surfactants interact with a lipid SC model by neutron diffraction and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, focusing on examining the impact of surfactant molecular architecture. The surfactant-SC mixed membrane was constructed by an equimolar mixture of ceramide/cholesterol/fatty acids and surfactant at 1% molar ratio of total lipids. The arrangements of water and surfactant molecules in the membrane were obtained through neutron scattering length density (NSLD) profiles via contrast variation method, meanwhile, MD simulation clearly demonstrated the mechanism of hydration change in the surfactant-model SC mixed membrane. No drastic difference was detected in the repeating distance of the short periodicity phase (SPP) upon adding surfactants, however, it significantly enhanced the membrane hydration and reduced the amount of phase separated crystalline cholesterol, showing a strong dependence on surfactant chain length, branching and double bond. This work clearly demonstrates how surfactant architecture affects its interaction with the SC membrane, providing useful guidance for either choosing an existing surfactant or designing a new one for surfactant-based transdermal application.

Inside Front Cover: Volume 2 Issue 3

Inside front cover image: Understanding the phase separation mechanism of small-molecule semiconductor and polymer blends is crucial for optimizing the phase morphology for high performance solution-processing organic electronics. In this article, the phase morphologies of small-molecule/polymer films formed by blending a small molecule organic semiconductor with the polystyrene with different chain architectures for organic field-effect transistors were investigated by the combined in-plane and out-of-plane techniques across multiple length scales and correlated with the device performances. Molecular dynamics modelling reveals the phase morphology is kinetically determined, limited by the inherent slow movement of polymer macromolecules. This work will guide further optimization of blend-based organic electronics, such as OFETs and organic photovoltaics. (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/smm2.1036)

서비스 공급사슬구조에 대한 탐색적 연구: 서비스사이언스의 서비스지배논리적 접근

With the development of the service economy, IBM introduced the concept of service science in 2004. Since then, service management and service supply chain management (SSCM) have become increasingly interested in academia and industry. Supply chain management (SCM) is spreading around the world, and there are many successful cases. However, the application of supply chain management is still in its early stages in the service industry compared to the manufacturing industry, which has successfully applied supply chain management. Therefore, this study carries out a literature review with service-dominant logic (S-D Logic) as a research philosophy. Through this, we attempt an exploratory study of the service supply chain architecture, which is difficult to explain in existing manufacturing supply chains. Moreover, this work proposes research propositions and architecture model related to the service supply chain structure based on literature research. This research will provide the foundation for the Multi-disciplinary Convergence Study, aiming to generalize the service supply chain architecture.