This paper explores health literacy mediation in Chinese online medical consultations (OMCs). Adopting a social practice view of (health) literacy, the study examines naturally occurring instances of health literacy mediation in which caregivers act as “mediators” by initiating and receiving online medical services on behalf of their family members who may have limited health literacy. The analysis focuses on the discursive and interactional strategies through which these mediators participate in OMCs, articulate their family members’ illness experiences, and support the management of their health. The findings show that literacy mediation serves as a powerful means of addressing health literacy barriers, promoting inclusion, and empowering linguistically and digitally marginalised groups to achieve better health outcomes through the support of others. Drawing on the view of health literacy as shared resources, knowledge, and expertise distributed across individuals’ social networks, the paper argues that, apart from an emphasis on independent mastery of health-related texts and practices by an individual, literacy mediation provides an alternative pathway to enhancing health equity for less-advantaged groups, by mobilising the resources of people who help them with navigating challenging digital health texts.
Hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide (HMHP, HOCH2OOH) is one of the most abundant organic peroxides (POs) in the atmosphere. Owing to its extremely high solubility, HMHP readily partitions into cloudwater and aerosol liquid water, where it hydrolyzes to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and formaldehyde (HCHO). However, previous studies were conducted in dilute solutions and did not adequately account for the high-salinity characteristic of deliquesced aerosol particles. Here, we systematically investigate the combined effects of pH (0–6), temperature (277–313 K), ionic strength (0–10 M), and ion identity (NH4+, Na+, SO42–, and Cl–) on the hydrolysis kinetics of HMHP. For the first time, a parametrization formula describing the dependence of the hydrolysis rate constant on ionic strength is established, demonstrating that ionic strength exerts only a limited influence on HMHP hydrolysis. However, it is found that in highly concentrated ammonium salt solutions, HMHP undergoes a previously unrecognized NH3-driven reaction pathway. This new pathway competes with hydrolysis, accelerating the apparent transformation rate of HMHP by more than an order of magnitude while significantly reducing the yield of H2O2 and HCHO. Our findings highlight that future atmospheric chemical models should fully account for the NH3-driven pathway in aqueous-phase reactions of POs, thereby enabling a more accurate assessment of the role of POs in atmospheric oxidant cycling and secondary particulate matter formation.
Formic acid and acetic acid are the most abundant gas-phase organic acids in the atmosphere, yet their concentrations are substantially underestimated by both global and regional atmospheric models across diverse environments. In this study, we report unexpectedly high yields of formic acid and acetic acid during the multi-generational photooxidation of toluene, a canonical anthropogenic volatile organic compound. Their yields exhibit a strong dependence on hydroxyl radical (•OH) exposure ([•OH] × residence time), increasing from 25 % and 24 % under low exposure (< 0.2 equivalent days) to 74 % and 40 % under elevated exposure (1–3 equivalent days) for formic and acetic acid, respectively. The formation of these organic acids is not significantly affected by NOx concentrations. A modified box model based on MCM v3.3.1 underestimates the peak concentrations of both acids by approximately a factor of five, indicating substantial gaps in current mechanistic understanding. Although both secondary aerosol formation and organic acid production increase with aging to a certain degree of oxidation, their distinct temporal evolutions suggest that particle photodegradation is not the dominant pathway. The contrasting •OH exposure dependence between organic acids and primary carbonyl compounds further implies that these acids are predominantly multi-generational oxidation products. These findings demonstrate that multi-generational oxidation of aromatic compounds is an important and previously underappreciated source of atmospheric organic acids. The omission of organic acid formation from aromatic oxidation in current chemical mechanisms likely contributes to their widespread underestimation in models, highlighting the need for detailed laboratory studies and updated chemical mechanisms.
Transistor-integrated flexible pressure sensors have received considerable interest in emerging fields such as humanoid robotics, prosthetics, and implantable electronics. However, existing designs for these integrated sensors often exhibit a trade-off between pressure response and operating voltage, thus significantly limiting their practical applications. In this letter, we report a unique device design of integrated pressure sensors based on deformable microstructured electrodes capacitively coupled with floating-gate carbon nanotube transistors. The microstructured electrodes can dramatically enhance the pressure-introduced electrostatic control of the transistor, enabling a substantial improvement in the transduced pressure response at low operating voltages. With this unique design, we achieve a high pressure response of $10^5$ and an ultrahigh sensitivity up to $10^4 \text kPa^\text - 1$ at a low operating voltage below 3 V, which holds great promise for the development of advanced functionalized flexible electronics.
The dissolution of manganese (Mn) (hydr)oxides induced by low-molecular-weight organic compounds (LMWOCs) critically influences Mn and carbon cycling, yet limited high-resolution characterization hinders mechanistic understanding. Here, we investigated the dissolution kinetics of Mn(III/IV) (hydr)oxides mediated by citric acid, pyruvic acid, oxalic acid, and hydroquinone, as well as the controlling factors (LMWOC type and concentration, pH, and coexisting ions), by real-time and in-situ electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM), complemented by grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering (GIWAXS) and kinetic modeling. Hydroquinone and citric acid promoted significant dissolution at pH 5 and 6, with hydroquinone dominating initially but slowing later; at pH 7, hydroquinone remained highly effective, far surpassing citric acid. In contrast, pyruvic acid and oxalic acid at pH 5, 6, and 7 showed negligible dissolution. Citric acid– and hydroquinone–mediated dissolution exhibited characteristic S-shaped kinetics with induction, acceleration, and deceleration stages, indicating an autocatalytic pathway, whereas pyruvic acid and oxalic acid showed no such pattern. Analysis of controlling factors showed that citric acid–mediated dissolution increased with increasing citric acid concentration and decreasing pH. Coexisting ions, including NO3−, Cl−, SO42− (5–50 mM), and Mg2+, Ca2+, Zn2+ (0.5–4 mM), inhibited the dissolution. Notably, HPO42− and P2O74− (0.1–1 mM) and Mn2+ (0.5–4 mM) exhibited concentration-dependent dual effects on dissolution, arising from competing promotive and inhibitory processes. GIWAXS analysis revealed that citric acid–mediated dissolution of Mn(III/IV) (hydr)oxides was facet-dependent, whereas exogenous Mn2+ promoted non-selective citric acid–mediated dissolution. This study provides insights into complex interfacial geochemical processes on redox-active minerals.
We studied the horizontally oriented ice crystals (HOIC) with the combinational observations of a zenith-pointing and a slant-pointing (with a zenith angle of 15 degrees) polarization lidar in Beijing in 2022. The HOICs account for approximately 7.3 % of total ice-containing clouds. These results have the potential to enhance the parameterization scheme in climate models for this unique form of ice crystals.
Online adaptive radiation therapy (ART) lengthens the session, but many published times report one interval and do not isolate ART-specific activity. We developed a console timer that records wall-clock timestamps for a defined event list, stores per-fraction ART settings, and exports Excel tables. ART-specific extra time extends from ART mode until plan approval. After verification on 100 simulated fractions, it was applied in 38 fan-beam CT-guided gynecologic pelvic online ART fractions (nine patients). Mean ART-specific extra time was 13.7 min within a 21.8-min session, dominated by optimization and target/organ-at-risk editing. It supports bottleneck audit under a shared event list.
Geological carbon cycle (GCC) directly impacts the global carbon cycle and climate change, where CO2 adsorption is one most critical factor, governs the GCC's efficiency and security. However, the fundamental mechanisms of CO2 adsorption and its effects on interfacial properties remain inadequately understood due to the inherent complexities of mineral compositions, pore structures, and wettability heterogeneities. To address these challenges, this review systematically explores the theoretical foundations of CO2 adsorption, providing a mechanistic elucidation of CO2 adsorption and its effects on interfacial properties. It integrates insights from mathematical modeling, molecular simulations, and experimental methodologies to elucidate the mechanisms of CO2 sorption and its competitive behavior with other fluid components such as CH4 and H2O in geological formations. We critically assess CO2 adsorption behaviors at diverse interfaces, including solid-fluid interfaces (organic, inorganic, and composite models) and fluid-fluid interfaces (e.g., CO2-water), and discuss influencing factors, such as pore shape/size, temperature, pressure, moisture, wettability, and external electric fields. Furthermore, the review specifically evaluates the key physicochemical mechanisms underlying CO2-interface interactions and its implications for interfacial properties, including wettability alteration, interfacial tension changes and adsorption-induced deformation. Meanwhile, we provide a comprehensive understanding of adsorption scenarios within the GCC. Finally, we outline current research challenges and identify prospects to advance the fundamental understanding of how CO2 adsorption influences mineral interfacial properties and the GCC processes, thereby contributing to global climate governance and carbon neutrality efforts.Keywords: CO2 adsorption; Interfacial properties; Gas–solid interactions; Minerals; Geological carbon cycle