The Chinese Reception of "An Ethical Andersen"

Children’s literature aims to be educational, and, as we are all well aware, it is also the subject of education in itself, as an academic discipline. All those classical works that transcending time and border continue to uphold noble morality or raise moral admonition. From the perspective of ethical literary criticism, it is argued that Andersen started the ethical tradition and the moral outlook the later generation inherited. The circulation and reception of Andersen in the world lies in its ethical values and its everlasting legacy for cultivating the spirit of both young and old

Numerical investigations of reactive pollutant dispersion and personal exposure in 3D urban-like models

With satisfactory validation by experimental data, we perform computational fluid dynamic(CFD) simulations with the standard k- model to investigate how NO-NO2-O3 photochemistry and turbulent mixing influence reactive pollutant dispersion and vehicular NOx exposure in 21-row(neighborhood-scale~1km) three-dimensional(3D) medium-dense urban models with an approaching wind parallel(perpendicular) to the main(secondary) streets. Personal intake fraction P_iF and its spatially-averaged values for the entire building (i.e. building intake fraction B) are adopted for reactive/passive exposure analysis with/without NOx-O3-photochemistry. Some meaningful findings are proposed: 1) There are flow adjustment processes coupling turbulent mixing and chemical reactions through urban areas(i.e. secondary Street 1 to 20). NO-NO2-O3 photochemistry induces O3 depletion and NO conversion into NO2 producing significant increase in NO2 exposure and slight decrease in NO exposure compared with passive dispersion. 2) With span-wise NOx sources, Street 10 in the fully-developed region experiences weaker wind and subsequently greater B(0.207ppm) than Street 3(0.135ppm) in the upstream flow-adjustment region. B descends exponentially from the target building toward downstream, and Street 10 experiences quicker decay rates. 3) With stream-wise NOx sources along the main street, B first ascends, then reaches equilibrium values (e.g.0.046-0.049ppm for passive). 4) If background O3 concentration [O3] rises from 20ppbv to 40 and 100ppbv, more NO is oxidized by O3 to generate NO2. As [O3]=20ppbv, if NO-NO2 emission ratio decreases from 10 to 5, NO2 exposure is partly offset but NO exposure change little. Present methodologies are confirmed effective to investigate impacts of more complicated meteorological conditions and chemical mechanisms on exposure in urban districts

Dynamic Monitoring of the Standard Penetration of PHC Tubular Piles and Analysis of the Construction Effect Based on Monocular Visual Digital Photography

The penetration of large-diameter tubular piles and their relevant construction effect have significant influences on the bearing capacity of piles and nearby buildings (structures). This study focuses on developing an indoor test model device for the dynamic field monitoring of the construction effect of penetrated large-diameter tubular piles based on monocular visual digital photography. The results show that the relationship between the penetration of the tubular piles and time function (blow counts) changes from a logarithmic function to a linear function when piles penetrate from the loose layer to the sandy layer, and then to the silty soil layer. The penetration rates differ significantly under different formation conditions. There are obvious plugging and squeezing effects as tubular piles penetrate different strata. The plugging effect radiates outward in a rectangular shape. The influence sphere of the squeezing effect is divided into the shear failure zone, radial squeezing zone, and hemispherical expansion zone. According to the measurement data, the squeezing effect increases first and then weakens during the construction of tubular piles. This makes the adjacent pile deviate from the initial position by 17.4 mm, making the next pile deviate from the initial position by 6.4 mm, to the maximum extent. This further verifies the superiority of pile-jumping construction. The research conclusions can provide reasonable suggestions and a reference basis to improve the penetration parameters of tubular piles and optimise their construction techniques

Association of BMPR-1B Gene 3 '-UTR Region Polymorphism with Litter Size in Tibetan Sheep

Bone Morphogenetic Protein Receptor-1B (BMPR-1B) is considered as the primary gene in sheep for follicular development and litter size trait. It has been defined as the most major candidate gene for genetic markers of sheep reproductive performance. In our study, polymorphisms in the BMPR-1B gene 3'-UTR region were investigated in 363 Tibetan sheep (119 Plateau-type Tibetan sheep, 141 Valley-type Tibetan sheep, and 103 Oula-type Tibetan sheep) by DNA sequencing analysis. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified, which were G1339A and A1354G. The frequencies of SNPs were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (Chi-square test, P>0.05). AA and AG genotypes were found in the A1354G variant of the 3'UTR region, that AA and A were the preponderant genotype and allele, respectively. The chi 2 independence test analyses indicated that the A1354G variant of BMPR-1B gene 3'UTR region polymorphisms was significantly correlated with litter size in all-types Tibetan sheep (P<0.05). These results demonstrate that the BMPR-1B gene 3'-UTR region might be a potential candidate gene for marker-assisted selection (MAS)

Tunable Fluorescence-Responsive Double Hydrophilic Block Polymers Induced by the Formation of Pseudopolyrotaxanes with Cucurbit[7]Uril

There is an urgent need for new strategies that allow the simultaneous detection and control of drug delivery. By making use of supramolecular host-guest interactions, a kind of pseudopolyrotaxanes, as a visualizable nanoscale drug carrier has been constructed by self-assembly of cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]) with methoxy poly(ethylene glycol)-block-quaternized poly(4-vinyl pyridine) (mPEG-b-QP4VP) using 4-(chloromethyl)benzonitrile. Simple addition of CB[7] into an aqueous solution of mPEG-b-QP4VP resulted in noncovalent attachment of CB[7] to 4-cyanobenzyl-containing polymers, transforming the nonemissive mPEG-b-QP4VP micelles into highly fluorescent micelles. These pseudopolyrotaxanes micelles exhibited remarkable supramolecular assembly-induced emission enhancement and excellent biocompatibility, showing great potential for bioimaging applications. In addition, the efficient cellular uptake of the developed pseudopolyrotaxanes micelles loaded with the anticancer drug doxorubicin was a promising platform for simultaneous cell imaging and drug delivery, thereby widening their application in cancer theranostics

Microstructure evolution and hard x-ray reflectance of ultrathin Ru/C multilayer mirrors with different layer thicknesses

Nanoscale Ru/C multilayers are essential reflective optics in the hard x-ray region of 7–20 keV. To understand the layer growth behavior and develop ultrathin Ru/C multilayer mirrors with periods smaller than 3.0 nm, multilayers with different periods of 6.2–1.5 nm were fabricated and studied. It is found that the average interface width started to increase obviously when the period became smaller than 2.5 nm while the surface roughness of different multilayers remained almost the same. The intrinsic stress of the multilayer gradually decreased with decreasing period and reached a very low value of −82 MPa at d  = 2.3 nm. High reflectance of 54% and 65% (at E  = 8.04 keV) were demonstrated for the multilayers with periods of 2.5 nm and 3.0 nm, respectively, whereas that for 1.9 nm period was significantly lower. To further analyze the layer microstructure, x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used. The polycrystallized structure of Ru remained similar for the multilayers with period less than 2.5 nm, while a non-continuous layer growth and severe intermixing between Ru and C were observed for the multilayer with period of 1.9 nm. The increased intermixing between Ru and C was found to be the main reason for the larger interface width and lower reflectance of the multilayers with period smaller than 2.5 nm. It also indicated that the layer thickness threshold for a Ru/C multilayer growing with good layer quality is 1.0–1.2 nm

Combined Effects of Photochemical Processes, Pollutant Sources and Urban Configuration on Photochemical Pollutant Concentrations

Rapid urbanization, dense urban configuration and increasing traffic emissions have caused severe air pollution, resulting in severe threats to public health. Particularly, photochemical pollution is associated with chemical transformation introducing more complexity. The understanding of the combined effects of pollutant sources, urban configuration and chemical transformation is still insufficient because most previous studies focused on non-reactive pollutant dispersions. In this study, we adopt a simplified street network model including complex photochemical reactions, i.e., the Model of Urban Network of Intersecting Canyons and Highways (MUNICH), with the real traffic and street data of a region in Guangzhou to investigate the combined effects of the three factors above on photochemical pollution. Our simulations show that the overall reduction in traffic emissions decreases NOx pollution while increasing O3 concentration. Controlling VOC emission can effectively mitigate O3 pollution. Moreover, irregular building heights and arrangements can lead to certain hot spots of air pollution. High-rise buildings will obstruct ventilation and exacerbate pollution. If higher buildings have lower vehicle use, the deep canyon can offset the effect of lower emissions. In conclusion, urban planners and policy makers should avoid deep canyons and irregular street networks to achieve better pollutant dispersion and pay attention to controlling VOC emissions