Synthesis of 5α,6-Dihydroveragranines A and B.

The 5α,6-dihydro congeners of veragranines A and B, two steroidal alkaloids with an unprecedented hexacyclic skeleton and potent analgesic effects, were synthesized from hecogenin acetate within six steps. This work enables quick access to the hexacyclic skeleton and is amendable to prepare other D-ring-modified congeners.

Transfer-Medium-Free Nanofiber-Reinforced Graphene Film and Applications in Wearable Transparent Pressure Sensors.

Graphene exhibits properties of atomic thickness, high transparency, and high carrier mobility, which is highly desirable for a flexible transparent conductive material. However, the electronic properties of large-area chemical vapor deposition grown graphene film suffer from insulated polymer contaminations introduced by the transfer process and the easily cracked nature. Here, we report a preparation method of a transfer-medium-free large-area nanofiber-reinforced graphene (a-PAN/G) film simply by annealing the electrostatically spun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers on the graphene film. The film could be free-standing on water and suspended in air with high transparency and enhanced electrical and mechanical properties compared to that of a monolayer graphene film. The flexible transparent a-PAN/G films were demonstrated as active materials for sensitive pressure sensors. The obtained pressure sensors demonstrate high sensitivity (44.5 kPa-1 within 1.2 kPa), low operating voltage (0.01-0.5 V), and excellent stability for 5500 loading-unloading cycles, revealing promising potential applications in wearable electronics.

Estimating the submarine groundwater and nutrients discharge of Yellow River delta with cross-section method.

In this paper, cross-section method was used to estimate the groundwater and nutrients discharge fluxing to the Bohai Sea from the Yellow River Delta. The flux of shallow phreatic groundwater (within 10 m) in the Yellow River Farm discharging into sea was 2.9x10(-5) m3/m d in 2004 and 3.1x10(-5) m3/m d in 2005. Time distribution monthly mean flux is consistent with the Yellow River's runoff but taking on lag effect. And the volume of the phreatic water discharging from the whole delta is 3.71-3.77x10(3) m3, which is 2x10(-5)% of the Yellow River's annual runoff. The transport amount of shallow confined water (buried depth 15-20 m) from 2004 to 2005 was 5.7-6.2x10(-3) m3/m d in the Yellow River delta, 0.0037-0.004% of the runoff of Yellow River. There is low concentration of NO3-, NH4+ and PO4(3-) but high dissolved SiO2 in the shallow confined aquifer. Despite the high concentration of phreatic nitrate, it weakly influences the seawater because of the little flux of discharge into sea.