Mothering in a Polluted, Developing China: Class, Risk Perception, and Environmentalist Motherhood

Overall, this research asks how do mothers cope with the modernization risks with Chinese characteristics in a polluted but drastically developing post-socialist China? To be more specific: to what extent are Chinese mothers willing to have their little children tolerate the modernization risks in urban China? Considering urban and rural residents have been benefiting as well as suffering from the modernizing China differently, how do mothers from two classes perceive and cope with the risks differently? With a focus on two case studies: electromagnetic radiation-shielding maternity clothes (cloak) and post-Sanlu infant formula scandal in 2008, this dissertation explores the series of questions through 12 months of qualitative research in Shanghai, including in-depth interviews with pregnant women and new mothers from two classes, ethnographic fieldwork in a low-cost maternity hospital (PJ hospital) and a rural-urban migrant non-governmental organization (New Citizen Life Space/NCLS), and archival research on the reports about the environmental pollutions and food safety issues. This project argues that the dilemma between the drastic state-governed economic development and environmental degradation as well as moral decay has created fear and anxieties over reproductive health, which gives rise to what I term “the responsibility and morality of Environmentalist Motherhood”. In the context of post-socialist China, mothers not only need to perform good motherhood but also claim their distinctive class, knowledge, and positionality. Well-educated, middle-class mothers tend to see the issues of the environmental pollution and food safety problems as a “Chinese” problem rooted in the economic and political path China is taking. Their practice of mothering is facilitated by their economic power but constrained/blinded by their political weakness. By contrast, rural-urban working-class migrant mothers show a fragmented performance of good motherhood due to the discriminatory social structure, their limited disposable income, and a lack of access to the emerging knowledge of mothering that is dominated and communicated among middle-class mothers through social network and on social media. The dissertation starts with a government-subsidized, low-cost maternity hospital for rural-urban migrant women in order to paint a general picture of the ideal, reproductive citizenship in contemporary, urban China as well as the lack of health rights among rural-urban, working-class migrant women due to the long-term consequences of hukou system and suzhi discourse. The following chapters reveal how well-educated, middle-class mothers practice their Environmentalist Motherhood through “cloaking” pregnancy and “delaying” their baby’s contact with China’s environment. All these strategies require tremendous monetary, time, and knowledge investment, and simultaneously cause gendered burden due to their inferior position in the global information as well as commodify flows. Rural-urban working-class migrant mothers, by contrast, are sealed off the outsider world. Their practice of Environmentalist Motherhood is constrained by their desire for economic betterment and the discriminatory structure they are facing in urban areas. The dissertation ends with a general discussion on several emerging core themes, such as global environmental justice, modernity and toxicity, and the dilemma of Environmentalist Motherhood

Surface modification of MSNs with β-CD and use as a drug delivery system

<p>A novel drug delivery system was developed through the modification of MSNs (mesoporous silica nanoparticles) with β-CD (β-Cyclodextrin). The experiment results demonstrated that the cytotoxicity of this drug delivery system was very low, and the doxorubicin loading ratio was ~27.36%. The behaviour of drug release was pH dependent and it can be used as the drug controlling releasing in cancer cell. The combination of doxorubicin and this drug delivery system (MSN-NH₂-CD-Biotin) could arrest the cancer cell in G2 phase, and it could make the cancer cell apoptosis by doxorubicin more effectively.</p

Spin–Orbit State-Selective C–I Dissociation Dynamics of the CH₃I⁺ <i>X̃</i> Electronic State Induced by Intense Few-Cycle Laser Fields

Studies of ultrafast molecular dynamics induced by intense laser fields can reveal new approaches to manipulating chemical reactions in the strong-field regime. Here, we show that intense few-cycle laser pulses can induce the spin–orbit state-selective C–I dissociation of the iodomethane cation (CH₃I⁺) in the <i>X̃</i> electronic state. Irradiation of CH₃I by 6 fs laser pulses with peak intensities of 1.9 × 10¹⁴ W/cm² followed by femtosecond extreme ultraviolet probing of the iodine 4<i>d</i> core-level transitions reveals dissociation of the CH₃I⁺ <i>X̃</i> ²<i>E</i>_1/2 state with a time constant of 0.76 ± 0.16 ps. By contrast, the <i>X̃</i> ²<i>E</i>_3/2 spin–orbit ground state does not exhibit any appreciable dissociation on the picosecond time scale. The observed spin–orbit state-selective dissociation of the <i>X̃</i> state is rationalized in terms of the laser-induced coupling to the <i>Ã</i> state. Our results suggest that the intense-laser control of photodissociation channels can be potentially extended to spin–orbit split states

Elementary Electron and Ion Dynamics in Ionized Liquid Water

The ionization of liquid water functions as the principal trigger for a myriad of phenomena that are relevant to radiation chemistry and biology. The earliest events that follow the ionization of water, however, remain relatively unknown. Here, femtosecond coherence spectroscopy is combined with polarization anisotropy measurements to elucidate the ultrafast electron and ion dynamics in ionized water. The results show that strong-field ionization of liquid water produces an aligned p electron distribution. Furthermore, oscillations observed in the polarization anisotropy are suggestive of valence electron motion in the highly reactive H₂O⁺ radical cation, whose lifetime with respect to proton transfer is found to be 196 ± 5 fs. Coherent intermolecular motions that signal initial solvent reorganization and subsequent long-lived ballistic proton transport that involves the H₃O⁺ end product are also detected in the time domain. These results offer new insight into the elementary dynamics of ionized liquid water

In Situ Generation and Consumption of H₂O₂ by Bienzyme–Quantum Dots Bioconjugates for Improved Chemiluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer

Exploration of quantum dots (QDs) as energy acceptors revolutionizes the current chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (CRET), since QDs possess large Stokes shifts and high luminescence efficiency. However, the strong and high concentration of oxidant (typically H₂O₂) needed for luminol chemiluminescence (CL) reaction could cause oxidative quenching to QDs, thereby decreasing the CRET performance. Here we proposed the use of bienzyme–QDs bioconjugate as the energy acceptor for improved CRET sensing. Two enzymes, one for H₂O₂ generation (oxidase) and another for H₂O₂ consumption (horseradish peroxidase, HRP), were bioconjugated onto the surface of QDs. The bienzyme allowed fast in situ cascaded H₂O₂ generation and consumption, thus alleviating fluorescence quenching of QDs. The nanosized QDs accommodate the two enzymes in a nanometric range, and the CL reaction was confined on the surface of QDs accordingly, thereby amplifying the CL reaction rate and improving CRET efficiency. As a result, CRET efficiency of 30–38% was obtained; the highest CRET efficiency by far was obtained using QDs as the energy acceptor. The proposed CRET system could be explored for ultrasensitive sensing of various oxidase substrates (here exemplified with cholesterol, glucose, and benzylamine), allowing for quantitative measurement of a spectrum of metabolites with high sensitivity and specificity. Limits of detection (LOD, 3σ) for cholesterol, glucose, and benzylamine were found to be 0.8, 3.4, and 10 nM, respectively. Furthermore, multiparametric blood analysis (glucose and cholesterol) is demonstrated

Spatial Diversity of Bacterioplankton Communities in Surface Water of Northern South China Sea

<div><p>The South China Sea is one of the largest marginal seas, with relatively frequent passage of eddies and featuring distinct spatial variation in the western tropical Pacific Ocean. Here, we report a phylogenetic study of bacterial community structures in surface seawater of the northern South China Sea (nSCS). Samples collected from 31 sites across large environmental gradients were used to construct clone libraries and yielded 2,443 sequences grouped into 170 OTUs. Phylogenetic analysis revealed 23 bacterial classes with major components <i>α-</i>, <i>β-</i> and <i>γ</i>-<i>Proteobacteria</i>, as well as <i>Cyanobacteria</i>. At class and genus taxon levels, community structure of coastal waters was distinctively different from that of deep-sea waters and displayed a higher diversity index. Redundancy analyses revealed that bacterial community structures displayed a significant correlation with the water depth of individual sampling sites. Members of <i>α-Proteobacteria</i> were the principal component contributing to the differences of the clone libraries. Furthermore, the bacterial communities exhibited heterogeneity within zones of upwelling and anticyclonic eddies. Our results suggested that surface bacterial communities in nSCS had two-level patterns of spatial distribution structured by ecological types (coastal VS. oceanic zones) and mesoscale physical processes, and also provided evidence for bacterial phylogenetic phyla shaped by ecological preferences.</p></div

Identification of potential upstream lncRNAs of hsa-miR-1-3p in LUAD.

(A) Correlation between hsa-miR-1-3p expression and the expression of candidate lncRNAs (MIR4435−2HG, MIAT, and CYTOR) in TCGA LUAD tumor tissues. (B) Candidate lncRNA (MIR4435−2HG, MIAT, and CYTOR) expression in TCGA LUAD tumor tissues compared to adjacent normal tissues. (C) The prognostic value of candidate lncRNAs (MIR4435−2HG, MIAT, and CYTOR) in LUAD. (D) The lncRNA—hsa-miR-1-3p - TIMELESS interaction network in LUAD tumor tissue.</p

Correlation of <i>TIMELESS</i> expression with immunophenoscores that predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in TCGA LUAD tumor tissues.

Correlation of TIMELESS expression with immunophenoscores that predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in TCGA LUAD tumor tissues.</p

RDA ordination plots for the first two dimensions of the relationship among the sampling sites, environmental variables and bacterial phylogenetic classes.

<p>Environmental variables are represented by arrows with a cutoff of <i>r</i>² = 0.2. Correlations are indicated by the length and angle of arrows.</p

DataSheet_1_Mariculture may intensify eutrophication but lower N/P ratios: a case study based on nutrients and dual nitrate isotope measurements in Sansha Bay, southeastern China.docx

The mariculture industry has grown rapidly worldwide over the past few decades. The industry helps meet growing food demands and may provide an effective means of carbon sequestration; however, it may harm the marine ecological environment, and the extent of its impact depends on the type of mariculture. Here we focus on the impact of mariculture on the nutrient status and eutrophication in Sansha Bay, which is a typical aquaculture harbor in southeastern China that employs a combination of shellfish and seaweed farming. Nutrient concentrations and dual nitrate isotopes were measured in Sansha Bay during the winter of 2021. The average concentrations of nitrate and phosphate were 31.3 ± 10.5 and 2.26 ± 0.84 µM, respectively, indicating that the water was in a eutrophic state. However, the N/P ratios were relatively low (14.3 ± 2.2). Nitrate isotope measurements were 8.8‰–11.9‰ for δ15N-NO3− and 2.2‰–6.0‰ for δ18O-NO3−. Source analysis based on the nitrate isotope measurements indicates that nitrate in Sansha Bay is derived mainly from the excretion of organisms and sewage discharge from mariculture. The isotopic fractionation model of nitrate assimilation by organisms indicates that surface waters in Sansha Bay experience strong biological uptake of nitrate, which is likely related to seaweed farming in winter. The low N/P ratios may be attributed to excessive nitrogen uptake (relative to phosphorus) during shellfish and seaweed farming, as well as nitrogen removal through sediment denitrification, which is fueled by the sinking of particulate organic matter from mariculture. Overall, our study shows that mariculture activities dominated by shellfish and seaweed cultivation in Sansha Bay may exacerbate eutrophication but reduce N/P ratios in the water column in aquaculture areas.</p