Attachment--and loss.

Cause, conseguenze e strategie di mitigazione Proponiamo il primo di una serie di articoli in cui affronteremo l’attuale problema dei mutamenti climatici. Presentiamo il documento redatto, votato e pubblicato dall’Ipcc - Comitato intergovernativo sui cambiamenti climatici - che illustra la sintesi delle ricerche svolte su questo tema rilevante.

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Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis.

The detection of psychiatric illness by questionnaire

Abstract A two-dimensional version of the Pennsylvania State University mesoscale model has been applied to Winter Monsoon Experiment data in order to simulate the diurnally occurring convection observed over the South China Sea. The domain includes a representation of part of Borneo as well as the sea so that the model can simulate the initiation of convection. Also included in the model are parameterizations of mesoscale ice phase and moisture processes and longwave and shortwave radiation with a diurnal cycle. This allows use of the model to test the relative importance of various heating mechanisms to the stratiform cloud deck, which typically occupies several hundred kilometers of the domain. Frank and Cohen's cumulus parameterization scheme is employed to represent vital unresolved vertical transports in the convective area. The major conclusions are: Ice phase processes are important in determining the level of maximum large-scale heating and vertical motion because there is a strong anvil componen...

Numerical study of convection observed during the Winter Monsoon Experiment using a mesoscale two-dimensional model [presentation]

Fluorescent carbon nanoparticles or carbon quantum dots (CQDs) are a new class of carbon nanomaterials that have emerged recently and have garnered much interest as potential competitors to conventional semiconductor quantum dots. In addition to their comparable optical properties, CQDs have the desired advantages of low toxicity, environmental friendliness low cost and simple synthetic routes. Moreover, surface passivation and functionalization of CQDs allow for the control of their physicochemical properties. Since their discovery, CQDs have found many applications in the fields of chemical sensing, biosensing, bioimaging, nanomedicine, photocatalysis and electrocatalysis. This article reviews the progress in the research and development of CQDs with an emphasis on their synthesis, functionalization and technical applications along with some discussion on challenges and perspectives in this exciting and promising field.

Carbon quantum dots and their applications

Summary Receptor recognition and subsequent membrane fusion are essential for the establishment of successful infection by SARS-CoV-2. Halting these steps can cure COVID-19. Here we have identified and characterized a potent human monoclonal antibody, HB27, that blocks SARS-CoV-2 attachment to its cellular receptor at sub-nM concentrations. Remarkably, HB27 can also prevent SARS-CoV-2 membrane fusion. Consequently, a single dose of HB27 conferred effective protection against SARS-CoV-2 in two established mouse models. Rhesus macaques showed no obvious adverse events when administrated with 10-fold of effective dose of HB27. Cryo-EM studies on complex of SARS-CoV-2 trimeric S with HB27 Fab reveal that three Fab fragments work synergistically to occlude SARS-CoV-2 from binding to ACE2 receptor. Binding of the antibody also restrains any further conformational changes of the RBD, possibly interfering with progression from the prefusion to the postfusion stage. These results suggest that HB27 is a promising candidate for immuno-therapies against COVID-19. Highlights SARS-CoV-2 specific antibody, HB27, blocks viral receptor binding and membrane fusion HB27 confers prophylactic and therapeutic protection against SARS-CoV-2 in mice models Rhesus macaques showed no adverse side effects when administered with HB27 Cryo-EM studies suggest that HB27 sterically occludes SARS-CoV-2 from its receptor

https://biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.11.24.393629v1.full.pdf

Double Lock of a Potent Human Monoclonal Antibody against SARS-CoV-2

Inspired by numerous plants and animals living in arid conditions, a composite surface with the fog collection capacity has been fabricated in this study. The surface is composed of polydimethylsiloxane-based spine-arrays and a ZnO micron structure. Two wetting properties are integrated on the surface of the spine structure; the tip of spine is processed as hydrophilic and other parts such as the root region of spine and the base are processed as superhydrophobic. When the surface is in the saturated fog flow with a specific tilt angle, the fog deposits on spines and forms condensed droplets; then, the droplets fall off the surface due to gravity. Further, a new cycle of fog collection begins. In this study, we find that the percentage of the hydrophilic tip in the overall spine structure length, the distance between two spines and the tilt angle of surface are the key factors for improving the efficiency of fog collection. Such a composite surface might be an ideal platform for fog collection from air.

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Fog collection on a superhydrophobic/hydrophilic composite spine surface

Impact of the East Asian winter monsoon on tropical cyclone genesis frequency over the South China Sea

We report the structural evolution of diamond films in a plasma assisted hot filament chemical vapour deposition system with a variable substrate bias through a two-step process including deposition and subsequent modification. It is found that the diamond surfaces can be significantly modified after the treatment of hydrogen plasma. The surfaces with pyramidic structures form under the proper treated duration and temperature with a decrease in the content of amorphous carbon. As the treatment is prolonged, the surface presents ellipsoid structures while the diamond film becomes amorphous. Furthermore, 50 µm-long columns appear instead of the ellipsoids in a higher regime of the substrate temperature. These results suggest that the hydrogen plasma treatment and substrate temperature can significantly tune the surface topography of diamond films, and even give rise to chemical bonding variations with pronounced surface structures.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0022-3727/39/15/019/pdf

Bias-induced structural evolution of diamond films in plasma enhanced hot filament chemical vapour deposition with a two-step process

Femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy has been used to study ultrafast relaxation dynamics in low-temperature-grown AlGaAs/GaAs multiple quantum wells (MQW's). It was found that the carrier lifetime of as-grown MQW's was much longer than those that had been subjected to 30 s rapid thermal annealing. The carrier lifetimes of samples annealed to three different temperatures (600, 700, and 800 degreesC) were measured and that annealed to 700 degreesC was found to be shorter than that of the other two. We also observed the quantum beats of heavy-hole and light-hole exciton in as-grown AlGaAs/GaAs MQW's at low temperature, but not in the annealed samples. The beat frequency was 3.7 THz, corresponding to the energy difference between heavy- and light-hole excitons in the as-grown AlGaAs/GaAs MQW's. As the temperature rose, the beats disappeared. We gave two possible reasons to explain this phenomenon. We tuned the central frequency of femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser through the resonant frequencies of heavy holes and light holes, while the phase of the quantum beats did not change.

Lei Wang

Papers

Double Lock of a Potent Human Monoclonal Antibody against SARS-CoV-2

Fog collection on a superhydrophobic/hydrophilic composite spine surface

Impact of the East Asian winter monsoon on tropical cyclone genesis frequency over the South China Sea

Bias-induced structural evolution of diamond films in plasma enhanced hot filament chemical vapour deposition with a two-step process

Carrier dynamics in low-temperature-grownAlxGa1−xAs/GaAsmultiple quantum wells