(Z)-3-(3,4-Dimeth­oxy­phen­yl)-3-(4-fluoro­phen­yl)-1-morpholino­prop-2-en-1-one

The title compound, C21H22FNO4, is an isomer of flumorph (systematic name 4-[3-(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)-3-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-oxo-2-propenyl]morpholine), which was developed by Shenyang research institute of chemical industry and used as fungicide. The mol­ecule adopts a Z configuration about the C=C double bond. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 73.45 (11)°

An interpretive inquiry into Chinese educators' reflections and perceptions of the Chinese university admission policies

This study has focused on the analysis of Chinese educators' reflections and perceptions of the current Chinese university admission policies. Ten Chinese scholars with diverse educational background participated in this study, representing a multifaceted profile of the Chinese scholars currently studying in the United States. The four areas of investigation included their reflections on various critical issues dealing with (a) the current Chinese university enrollment system, (b) the impact of the enrollment system on secondary education, (c) their suggestions for reform and change, and (d) their comparisons between the U.S. and the Chinese university admissions policies

AgBr-Coupled TiO 2

A series of AgBr/TiO2 visible photocatalysts with heterojunction structure was synthesized using Ti(OC4H9)4, KBr, and AgNO3 as precursors. The phase composition, particle morphology and size, microstructures, and absorbance of these photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope (TEM), high-resolution TEM, and UV-vis spectra. It was found that the coupled AgBr/TiO2 was an effective photocatalyst to degrade the methylene blue under visible light irradiation, compared with the other noncoupled photocatalysts of AgBr, AgBr/P25, and P25. The photocatalytic activities of AgBr/TiO2 increase first and then decrease with increasing the mass ratio of mAgNO3/mTiO2 and the photocatalyst with the mass ratio of 3.35 has the highest photocatalytic activity. The results showed that the coupled photocatalyst has the particle size of about 15 nm with homogeneous dispersion and has the strongest absorption in whole UV-vis light region (250∼800 nm) originated from the synergetic effect of heterostructured AgBr/TiO2. The coupled AgBr/TiO2 photocatalyst can keep stable photocatalytic activity after five-circle runs

Competitive and/or cooperative interactions of graphene-family materials and benzo[a]pyrene with pulmonary surfactant: a computational and experimental study

Background Airborne nanoparticles can be inhaled and deposit in human alveoli, where pulmonary surfactant (PS) molecules lining at the alveolar air–water interface act as the first barrier against inhaled nanoparticles entering the body. Although considerable efforts have been devoted to elucidate the mechanisms underlying nanoparticle-PS interactions, our understanding on this important issue is limited due to the high complexity of the atmosphere, in which nanoparticles are believed to experience transformations that remarkably change the nanoparticles’ surface properties and states. By contrast with bare nanoparticles that have been extensively studied, relatively little is known about the interactions between PS and inhaled nanoparticles which already adsorb contaminants. In this combined experimental and computational effort, we investigate the joint interactions between PS and graphene-family materials (GFMs) with coexisting benzo[a]pyrene (BaP). Results Depending on the BaP concentration, molecular agglomeration, and graphene oxidation, different nanocomposite structures are formed via BaPs adsorption on GFMs. Upon deposition of GFMs carrying BaPs at the pulmonary surfactant (PS) layer, competition and cooperation of interactions between different components determines the interfacial processes including BaP solubilization, GFM translocation and PS perturbation. Importantly, BaPs adsorbed on GFMs are solubilized to increase BaP’s bioavailability. By contrast with graphene adhering on the PS layer to release part of adsorbed BaPs, more BaPs are released from graphene oxide, which induces a hydrophilic pore in the PS layer and shows adverse effect on the PS biophysical function. Translocation of graphene across the PS layer is facilitated by BaP adsorption through segregating it from contact with PS, while translocation of graphene oxide is suppressed by BaP adsorption due to the increase of surface hydrophobicity. Graphene extracts PS molecules from the layer, and the resultant PS depletion declines with graphene oxidation and BaP adsorption. Conclusion GFMs showed high adsorption capacity towards BaPs to form nanocomposites. Upon deposition of GFMs carrying BaPs at the alveolar air–water interface covered by a thin PS layer, the interactions of GFM-PS, GFM-BaP and BaP-PS determined the interfacial processes of BaP solubilization, GFM translocation and PS perturbation

Biological Effects of Black Phosphorus Nanomaterials on Mammalian Cells and Animals

The remarkable progress of applied black phosphorus nanomaterials (BPNMs) is attributed to BP's outstanding properties. Due to its potential for applications, environmental release and subsequent human exposure are virtually inevitable. Therefore, how BPNMs impact biological systems and human health needs to be considered. In this comprehensive Minireview, the most recent advancements in understanding the mechanisms and regulation factors of BPNMs’ endogenous toxicity to mammalian systems are presented. These achievements lay the groundwork for an understanding of its biological effects, aimed towards establishing regulatory principles to minimize the adverse health impacts

Rational Formations of a Metro Train Improve Its Efficiencies of Both Traction Energy Utilization and Passenger Transport

Based on simulations of passenger transports of two representative types of metro trains in China, this study analyzes efficiencies of energy consumption and passenger transport of a metro train in the effect of its target speed, formation scale (FS) (i.e., length and mass of the formation), relative traction capacity (RTC) (i.e., ratio of the motoring cars to all its cars), and so forth. It is found that increasing energy cost efficiency of a metro train with decreasing its target speed is evidently accelerated with reducing its RTC below 0.50 at the expense of obviously lowering its passenger transport efficiency. Moreover, if the passenger capacity of the train is sufficiently utilized, increasing its FS for the same RTC is easy to have its passenger transport efficiency improved significantly even for a meanwhile much decreased target speed with consuming energy less intensively. Therefore, metro trains in peak hours may take comparatively big FSs, relatively high target speeds, and RTCs over 0.50 to meet usually urgent and large-scale travel demands in such time. In contrast, trains in nonpeak hours ought to have small FSs, relatively low target speeds, and RTCs smaller than 0.50 for mainly avoiding energy waste

A WSN-Based System for Environment Monitoring and Energy Saving Control in Hull Workshop

In the shipbuilding process, lighting system in hull workshop consumes a large amount of electricity and the temperature and humidity inside affect the safety and quality of production directly. In order to save energy and monitor the temperature and humidity of working space in real time, an environment monitoring and energy saving control system was designed based on ZigBee wireless sensor networks. By locating workers' coordinates, the corresponding lighting devices are on-off automatically. The temperature and humidity are adjusted automatically by analyzing and processing the real-time temperature and humidity data sent from monitoring nodes. The test results in hull workshop show that the average location error is less than 1.2 m and the energy saving is also effective