Biomedical Enhancements as Justice

Biomedical enhancements, the applications of medical technology to make better those who are neither ill nor deficient, have made great strides in the past few decades. Using Amartya Sen's capability approach as my framework, I argue in this article that far from being simply permissible, we have a prima facie moral obligation to use these new developments for the end goal of promoting social justice. In terms of both range and magnitude, the use of biomedical enhancements will mark a radical advance in how we compensate the most disadvantaged members of society.     

Network Structure and Forces Involved in Perilla Globulin Gelation: Comparison with Sesame Globulin

Scanning electron micrographs show that perilla globulin gel had a finer network structure than sesame α-globulin gel. The effects of various reagents on the gel formation and solubility of perilla and sesame gels were compared. The contribution of disulfide bonds to the formation and stability of perilla gel was greater than to sesame gel, despite having the same subunit structure.     

Effects of age and size on critical swimming speed of juvenile Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis at seasonal temperatures

Changes in the critical swimming speed (U_crit, cm s^?1) with ontogeny of 2·5–12·5 month‐old juvenile anadromous Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinesis were measured in a modified Blazka‐type swimming tunnel. The absolute U_crit increased with length, mass and age; the relative U^′_crit (body lengths, s^?1), however, decreased. Juvenile A. sinesis did not display a parr–smolt transformation at the length or age threshold to tolerate full‐strength seawater.     

不同护坡草本植物的根系特征及对土壤渗透性的影响

为明确三峡库区植被边坡植物物种根系特征与土壤渗透性之间的关系,以裸地为对照,应用WinRHIZO(Pro.2004c)根系分析系统对香根草(Vetiveria zizanioides(Lin.) Nash)、百喜草(Paspalum notatum Flugge)、狗牙根(Cynodon dactylon (L) Pers.)和紫花苜蓿(Medicago sativa L.)等4种护坡草本的根系特征进行定量分析.结果表明:(1)紫花苜蓿和香根草的根长密度和根表面积密度显著大于狗牙根和百喜草;(2)不同草本类型和同一草本不同土层之间土壤渗透性存在较大差异,且各草本土壤渗透性随土层深度的增加而降低;相对于裸地而言,4种草本均能显著增强土壤渗透性,其土壤渗透性优劣表现为:香根草＞紫花苜蓿＞百喜草＞狗牙根;(3)土壤的初始入渗率、稳渗率、平均渗透率和渗透总量等各参数均随根长密度和根表面积密度增大而增强,且与直径介于0.5-5 mm不同径级的根系特征之间存在明显的相关性,故根系对土壤渗透性的增强作用主要归功于0.5-5 mm径级的根长密度和根表面积密度;(4)根长密度、根表面积密度对考斯加科夫入渗模型参数K和a有较大影响,随着根长密度和根表面积密度的增加,表征土壤初始入渗率的K值逐渐增大,而表征入渗能力衰减的参数a逐渐减小.     

基于功能性状的常绿阔叶植物防火性能评价

植物功能性状不仅便于评价植物的防火性能,也有利于筛选防火植物。本研究以宁波地区的29个常绿木本植物为对象,在测定植物比叶面积、叶干物质含量、叶片含水量、枝条干物质含量和树皮厚度5个功能性状,以及鲜叶的7个防火性能指标的基础上,通过因子分析将防火性能指标划分为抗燃性f_a(包含抗火性因子f₁和燃烧速度因子f₂2个公因子)与燃烧性f_b 2个防火因子,然后利用Pearson相关和偏相关建立了5个功能性状与各个防火因子的相关性,并对29物种的防火性能进行评价。结果表明：1)比叶面积和树皮厚度与抗火性因子f₁,枝条干物质含量、树皮厚度和当年生叶片含水量与燃烧速度因子f₂,比叶面积与抗燃性因子f_a,叶片干物质含量、比叶面积和当年生叶片含水量与燃烧性因子f_b间存在显著的相关关系;2)偏相关简化植物防火性状后,比叶面积和叶干物质含量分别对抗燃性因子f_a与燃烧性因子f_b的指示性最好;3)分别基于功能性状和燃烧试验的物种抗燃性排序相似度为0.80。本研究证明,基于简易观测的植物功能性状可较好地反映树种的抗火性和燃烧性,可作为植物防火性能有效的评价方法。     

Fabrication of Nano-engineered Transparent Conducting Oxides by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Nanosecond Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) in the presence of a background gas allows the deposition of metal oxides with tunable morphology, structure, density and stoichiometry by a proper control of the plasma plume expansion dynamics. Such versatility can be exploited to produce nanostructured films from compact and dense to nanoporous characterized by a hierarchical assembly of nano-sized clusters. In particular we describe the detailed methodology to fabricate two types of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films as transparent electrodes in photovoltaic devices: 1) at low O₂ pressure, compact films with electrical conductivity and optical transparency close to the state of the art transparent conducting oxides (TCO) can be deposited at room temperature, to be compatible with thermally sensitive materials such as polymers used in organic photovoltaics (OPVs); 2) highly light scattering hierarchical structures resembling a forest of nano-trees are produced at higher pressures. Such structures show high Haze factor (>80%) and may be exploited to enhance the light trapping capability. The method here described for AZO films can be applied to other metal oxides relevant for technological applications such as TiO₂, Al₂O₃, WO₃ and Ag₄O₄.     

优良菌种发酵葡萄酒优化条件的探讨

以诱变耐低温果酒酵母菌种YU2.28和产香酵母S15.3为发酵菌株,进行了葡萄酒发酵条件优化的试验研究.探讨了菌种生长温度、通氧量等因素,通过对菌种的生长情况和发酵醪液中总酯含量的变化分析,确定了自选酵母酿制葡萄酒的最佳技术参数,并对优化条件下发酵得到的葡萄酒进行GC/MS分析.结果显示：YU2.28和S15.3以1：3比例的混合发酵,接种量3%,调节醪液pH值为4.0,SO2添加量40 mg/L,发酵温度20℃,主发酵6 d内控制以230r/min的摇床转速进行摇瓶发酵,并进行9 h（每天1.5 h）供氧处理,后发酵30 d,酿造出的葡萄酒品质较佳,具有酒体丰盈,酒液澄清透亮,香气醇和的特征.成品酒香气成分共检测出醇类9种,酯类8种,酸类6种和少量的醛类、酮类等成分.     

Controlling Fluoride‐Forming Reactions for Improved Rate Capability in Lithium‐Perfluorinated Gas Conversion Batteries

Nonaqueous metal–gas batteries based on halogenated reactants exhibit strong potential for future high‐energy electrochemical systems. The lithium–sulfur hexafluoride (Li–SF₆) primary battery, which utilizes a safe, noncombustible, energy‐dense gas as cathode, demonstrates attractive eight‐electron transfer reduction during discharge and high attainable capacities (>3000 mAh g^?1_carbon) at voltages above 2.2 V_Li. However, improved rate capability is needed for practical applications. Here, two viable strategies are reported to achieve this by targeting the solubility of the passivating discharge product, lithium fluoride (LiF). Operating at moderately elevated temperatures, e.g., 50 °C, in DMSO dramatically improves LiF solubility and promotes sparser and larger LiF nuclei on gas diffusion layer electrodes, leading to capacity improvements of ≈10× at 120 µA cm^?2. More aggressive chemical modification of the electrolyte by including a tris(pentafluorophenyl)borane anion receptor further promotes LiF solubilization; capacity increases even at room temperature by a factor of 25 at 120 µA cm^?2, with attainable capacities up to 3 mAh cm^?2. This work shows that bulk fluoride‐forming conversion reactions can be strongly manipulated by tuning the electrolyte environment to be solvating toward F^?, and that significantly improved rates can be achieved, leading a step closer to practical applications.     

Nanosheets‐Assembled CuSe Crystal Pillar as a Stable and High‐Power Anode for Sodium‐Ion and Potassium‐Ion Batteries

Thanks to low costs and the abundance of the resources, sodium‐ion (SIBs) and potassium‐ion batteries (PIBs) have emerged as leading candidates for next‐generation energy storage devices. So far, only few materials can serve as the host for both Na⁺ and K⁺ ions. Herein, a cubic phase CuSe with crystal‐pillar‐like morphology (CPL‐CuSe) assembled by the nanosheets are synthesized and its dual functionality in SIBs and PIBs is comprehensively studied. The electrochemical measurements demonstrate that CPL‐CuSe enables fast Na⁺ and K⁺ storage as well as the sufficiently long duration. Specifically, the anode delivers a specific capacity of 295 mA h g^?1 at current density of 10 A g^?1 in SIBs, while 280 mA h g^?1 at 5 A g^?1 in PIBs, as well as the high capacity retention of nearly 100% over 1200 cycles and 340 cycles, respectively. Remarkably, CPL‐CuSe exhibits a high initial coulombic efficiency of 91.0% (SIBs) and 92.4% (PIBs), superior to most existing selenide anodes. A combination of in situ X‐ray diffraction and ex situ transmission electron microscopy tests fundamentally reveal the structural transition and phase evolution of CuSe, which shows a reversible conversion reaction for both cells, while the intermediate products are different due to the sluggish K⁺ insertion reaction.