Phase Diagrams of Water Confined by Graphene and Graphene Oxide

The behavior of water confined at the nanoscale plays a fundamental role in biological processes and technological applications, including protein folding, translocation of water across membranes, and water filtration and desalination processes. Remarkably, nanoscale confinement can drastically alter the properties of water. Understanding these changes in the physical behavior of water can provide new insights into many scientific questions and technical challenges. This thesis focuses on phase diagrams of water confined by graphene and graphene oxide. First, by performing Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulations, we constructed phase diagrams of water confined by graphene, a hydrophobic smooth surface. We found that the phase behaviors of water confined by graphene are complicated. In the phase diagram, monolayer square ice, bilayer square ice, liquid and vapor phases were presented. The non-monotonic cavitation pressures as a function of walls separations was unexpected. The values of cavitation pressures significantly deviated from the classical prediction for bulk water. Next, I moved to water under hydrophilic confinements. The first model used was a hydrophilic graphene-based surface where graphene C-water O interactions were tuned to create a hydrophilic surface but maintaining the geometry of the graphene. The phase diagram of water confined by hydrophilic graphene is presented. The extremely high magnitude of cavitation pressures found in this analysis suggests that energy can be converted efficiently from changes in relative humidity. Furthermore, the oscillation of cavitation pressures as a function of walls separations is relevant to water transportation. By randomly distributing hydroxyl groups on graphene, we saw similar cavitation pressures in a graphene oxide (GO) model

Phase Diagram of Water Confined by Graphene

The behavior of water confined at the nanoscale plays a fundamental role in biological processes and technological applications, including protein folding, translocation of water across membranes, and filtration and desalination. Remarkably, nanoscale confinement drastically alters the properties of water. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we determine the phase diagram of water confined by graphene sheets in slab geometry, at T = 300 K and for a wide range of pressures. We find that, depending on the confining dimension D and density σ, water can exist in liquid and vapor phases, or crystallize into monolayer and bilayer square ices, as observed in experiments. Interestingly, depending on D and σ, the crystal-liquid transformation can be a first-order phase transition, or smooth, reminiscent of a supercritical liquid-gas transformation. We also focus on the limit of stability of the liquid relative to the vapor and obtain the cavitation pressure perpendicular to the graphene sheets. Perpendicular cavitation pressure varies non-monotonically with increasing D and exhibits a maximum at D ≈ 0.90 nm (equivalent to three water layers). The effect of nanoconfinement on the cavitation pressure can have an impact on water transport in technological and biological systems. Our study emphasizes the rich and apparently unpredictable behavior of nanoconfined water, which is complex even for graphene

Reporting doctor-patient relationship issues in China: media representation, public perception, and reporter engagement

Doctor-patient relationship issues are one of the most important topics in public health. Since the establishment of the country, China’s healthcare reforms have shaped the doctor-patient relationship deeply. In recent years, the frequent doctor-patient conflicts in China have attracted the attention from mainstream news media and citizen journalists. These reports have also aroused intense discussions among the public. This project which investigates the above-mentioned reporting and discussions falls broadly into the field of public communication, exploring the interaction of media reports and the doctor-patient relationship.This study uses content analysis, corpus linguistics analysis, semi-structured interviews, and focus group interviews to explore the media reporting characteristics (mainstream news media and citizen journalism) of doctor-patient conflicts. It investigates how doctors and patients, as the core audiences, interpret citizen journalism. It also discusses the multiple roles of citizen journalists and how their work contributes to the construction of the doctor-patient relationship in China.This research points out that media reporting on doctor-patient conflicts are shaped by social ecology, political systems, and economic patterns. Mainstream news media and citizen journalism have different emphases when reporting on doctor-patient conflicts. Core audiences from different social and cultural backgrounds have diverse understandings and interpretations of these citizen journalist reports. The efforts of citizen journalists have exposed and challenged the shortcomings in the existing doctor-patient relationship, but their reporting activities also face uncertain challenges and limitations. This research proposes a perspective to explore public health issues from the three dimensions - communicator, communication content, and audience. Findings from this research supported by recent empirical data from the above three dimensions, contribute to the discussion of how media shapes the doctor-patient relationship in China. As a whole, this study contributes to citizen journalism research in the Chinese context.</div

AMMI an GGE biplot analysis of grain yield for drought-tolerant maize hybrid selection in Inner Mongolia

Abstract Due to the ongoing global warming, maize production worldwide is expected to be heavily inflicted by droughts. The grain yield of maize hybrids is an important factor in evaluating their suitability and stability. In this study, we utilized the AMMI model and GGE biplot to analyze grain yield of 20 hybrids from the three tested environments in Inner Mongolia in 2018 and 2019, aiming at selecting drought-tolerant maize hybrids. AMMI variance analysis revealed highly significant difference on main effects for genotype, environment, and their interaction. Furthermore, G11 (DK159) and G15 (JKY3308) exhibited favorable productivity and stability across all three test environments. Moreover, G10 (LH1) emerged as the most stable hybrid according to the AMMI analysis and the GGE biplot. Bayannur demonstrated the highest identification ability among the three tested sites. Our study provides accurate identification for drought-resilient maize hybrids in different rain-fed regions. These findings can contribute to the selection of appropriate hybrids that exhibit productivity, stability, and adaptability in drought-prone conditions

Wushenia nana Zettel 1990

&lt;i&gt;Wushenia nana&lt;/i&gt; Zettel, 1990 &lt;p&gt;Figure 1 (A&ndash;D), image quoted from Kittel R.N. &amp; Austin A.D. (2013)&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;i&gt;Wushenia nana&lt;/i&gt; Zettel, 1990: 186.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Material examined.&lt;/b&gt; &lt;b&gt;Holotype&lt;/b&gt; (AEI), female, Wushe, Taiwan, China, elevation 1150 m, 15.Ⅴ.1983.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Diagnosis. Clypeus without ventral teeth (Fig. 1C); female with 23 antennomeres, basal half of antenna bicoloured (Fig. 1A); scutellar sulcus with four carinae; notauli present, mesopleuron smooth and shiny; propodeum with distinct and regular areolae; dorsal carinae of T 1 parallel (Fig. 1D); metasoma in lateral view moderately convex (Fig. 1A); 2-SR+M antefurcal (Fig. 1B); head, distal half of antenna and metasomal carapace except anterior part of T 1 black, remainder of body yellow (Fig. 1A).&lt;/p&gt;Published as part of &lt;i&gt;Zhao, Qingyan, Luo, Wenjuan, Fang, Shuqian, Achterberg, Keens Van, Peng, Yanqiong, Zhu, Wenji, Gao, Zhenghan, Aizezi, Ayizuohere &amp; Yao, Junli, 2023, A new species of the genus Wushenia Zettel, 1990 from China (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Cheloninae), pp. 125-130 in Zootaxa 5369 (1)&lt;/i&gt; on page 127, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5369.1.6, &lt;a href="http://zenodo.org/record/10152952"&gt;http://zenodo.org/record/10152952&lt;/a&gt

Upconversion Luminescence-Activated DNA Nanodevice for ATP Sensing in Living Cells

Designer DNA nanodevices have attracted extensive interest for detection of specific targets in living cells. However, it still remains a great challenge to construct DNA sensing devices that can be activated at desired time with a remotely applied stimulus. Here we report a rationally designed, synthetic DNA nanodevice that can detect ATP in living cells in an upconversion luminescence-activatable manner. The nanodevice consists of a UV light-activatable aptamer probe and lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles which acts as the nanotransducers to operate the device in response to NIR light. We demonstrate that the nanodevice not only enables efficient cellular delivery of the aptamer probe into live cells, but also allows the temporal control over its fluorescent sensing activity for ATP by NIR light irradiation in vitro and in vivo. Ultimately, with the availability of diverse aptamers selected in vitro, the DNA nanodevice platform will allow NIR-triggered sensing of various targets as well as modulation of biological functions in living systems

Heterodimers Made of Upconversion Nanoparticles and Metal–Organic Frameworks

Creating nanoparticle dimers has attracted extensive interest. However, it still remains a great challenge to synthesize heterodimers with asymmetric compositions and synergistically enhanced functions. In this work, we report the synthesis of high quality heterodimers composed of porphyrinic nanoscale metal–organic frameworks (nMOF) and lanthanide-doped upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs). Due to the dual optical properties inherited from individual nanoparticles and their interactions, absorption of low energy photons by the UCNPs is followed by energy transfer to the nMOFs, which then undergo activation of porphyrins to generate singlet oxygen. Furthermore, the strategy enables the synthesis of heterodimers with tunable UCNP size and dual NIR light harvesting functionality. We demonstrated that the hybrid architectures represent a promising platform to combine NIR-induced photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy for efficient cancer treatment. We believe that such heterodimers are capable of expanding their potential for applications in solar cells, photocatalysis, and nanomedicine