Construction of Reverse Type-II InP/ZnxCd1-xS Core/Shell Quantum Dots with Low Interface Strain to Enhance Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

The InP-based quantum dots (QDs) have attracted much attention in the field of photocatalytic H2 evolution. However, a shell should be used for InP-based photocatalytic systems to passivate the numerous surface defects. Different from the traditional InP-based core/shell QDs with Type-I or Type-II band alignment, herein, the "reverse Type-II" core/shell QDs in which both the conduction and valence bands of shell materials are more negative than those of core materials have been well-designed by regulating the ratio of Cd/Zn of the alloyed ZnxCd1-xS shell. The reverse Type-II band alignment would realize the spatial separation of photogenerated carriers. More importantly, the photogenerated holes tend to rest on the shell in the reverse Type-II QDs, which facilitate hole transfer to the surface, the rate-determining step for solar H2 evolution using QDs. Therefore, the obtained InP/Zn0.25Cd0.75S core/shell QDs exhibit superior photocatalytic activity and stability under visible light irradiation. The rate of solar H2 evolution reaches 376.19 µmol h-1 mg-1 at the initial 46 h, with a turnover number of ∼2,157,000 per QD within 70 h irradiation.

Evolution of global scientific collaboration in mRNA vaccine research: Insights from bibliometric and social network analysis (2010~2023).

The field of mRNA vaccines has witnessed rapid development in recent years, leading to significant changes in global scientific collaboration. In this study, a bibliometric and social network analysis was conducted to reveal the evolution of global scientific collaboration in mRNA vaccine research. Altogether 6974 articles published since 2010 were retrieved and categorized into Period 1 (2010-2019), Period 2 (2020-2021) and Period 3 (2022-2023). During Period 2 and 3, there was a significant rise in the proportion of publications involving domestic inter-institutional cooperation (42.0%, 54.0% and 59.1%, respectively in Period 1, 2, and 3), while a significant decrease in international cooperation (32.1%, 23.7% and 21.0%). More countries participated in international collaboration during Period 2 and 3, with the US, the UK and Germany remaining top three throughout all periods, while some other countries like Italy, Japan, and China experiencing significant shifts. Significant correlations between collaboration type and publication impact and between geographical distance and collaborative publication counts were detected. Furthermore, significant changes in research focuses and institutions that are major contributors in the mRNA vaccine development have been observed. In conclusion, the mRNA vaccine field has experienced rapid development over the past decade, with significant evolutions of global scientific collaboration detected in our study.

Redox-Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Activity in PHV/CdS Hybrid Film.

Semiconductive photocatalytic materials have received increasing attention recently due to their ability to transform solar energy into chemical fuels and photodegrade a wide range of pollutants. Among them, cadmium sulfide (CdS) nanoparticles have been extensively studied as semiconductive photocatalysts in previous studies on hydrogen generation and environmental purification due to their suitable bandgap and sensitive light response. However, the practical applications of CdS are limited by its low charge separation, which is caused by its weak ability to separate photo-generated electron-hole pairs. In order to enhance the photoelectrochemical activity of CdS, a polymer based on viologen (PHV) was utilized to create a series of PHV/CdS hybrid films so that the viologen unit could work as the electron acceptor to increase the charge separation. In this work, various electrochemical, spectroscopic, and microscopic methods were utilized to analyze the hybrid films, and the results indicated that introducing PHV can significantly improve the performance of CdS. The photoelectrochemical activities of the hybrid films were also evaluated at various ratios, and it was discovered that a PHV-to-CdS ratio of 2:1 was the ideal ratio for the hybrid films. In comparison with CdS nanoparticles, the PHV/CdS hybrid film has a relatively lower band gap, and it can inhibit the recombination of electrons and holes, enhancing its photoelectrochemical activities. All of these merits make the PHV/CdS hybrid film as a strong candidate for photocatalysis applications in the future.

[Study on Effect of 4 Different Conduction Pathways on Initiation and Maintenance of Atrial Fibrillation Based on Atrial Simulation].

OBJECTIVE: In this study,computational modelling was used to study whether different conduction pathways have impact on the AF initiation and maintenance based on a human atrial model. METHODS: MRI images from one patient who has atrial fibrillation were used to reconstruct the human atrial anatomical model.The number of MRI images was 112.In order to study the effect of different conduction pathways to AF,4 different atrial models were generated in this study,which were biatrial conduction via only LFO;biatrial conduction via only CS;biatrial conduction via both LFO and CS;model without biatrial conduction. RESULTS: In the case of biatrial conduction simulation via only LFO,the same re-entries were induced as in the LFO and CS case.But for the two cases of only CS conduction and both LFO and CS cannot conduct electricity,one stimulus site induced unsustained re-entry which only lasted for 2 cycles,and then terminated.The other two sites induced the same re-entries as in the previously described two cases,which were biatrial conduction simulation via both LFO and CS and only LFO. CONCLUSIONS: Our simulation showed that these conduction pathways played a minor role in the re-entry initiation and maintenance,the possible explanation is that all the re-entries induced in our simulation is local drivers and maintained by fibrosis.