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The national climate assessment report series ‘Klima i Norge – 2100’ by the Norwegian Centre for Climate Services provides information on past and future changes in meteorological parameters and derived indices, hydrological components and effects on natural hazards. As a consequence, one of the key-user of national weather and climate data in downstream applications, namely hydrologists, are directly involved in the process of framing the report, including the selection of simulations and the application of bias-adjustment methods.For the upcoming update of the report (expected to be published in 2024), a set of nine variables from an ensemble of regional climate model (RCM) projections will be bias-adjusted on a 1x1 km grid covering the complete Norwegian mainland. To this end, different methods have been implemented, including empirical quantile mapping, which has already been used in the former reports, quantile delta mapping and multivariate bias-adjustment. Applying the methods to a set of RCMs yields a variety of datasets. These datasets, by design of the methods, reproduce the reference data with various accuracy, for instance in terms of spatial, temporal and inter-variable consistencies. Furthermore, the bias-adjusted climate projections differ on how they inherit specific climate change signals from the RCMs. Compared to the raw data, they may or may not preserve monthly or seasonal trends, changes in the quantiles or in the dependency structures. Since it is not always clear whether all the changes in the RCMs are physically plausible and relevant, selecting a single method may not be appropriate. And even if it’s clear, the corresponding bias-adjustment method may have other undesirable shortcomings.In this presentation we will show examples of how the different methods can affect the projected climate change signals in various aspects, and thus are adding a level of uncertainty. We will further emphasise the point of investigating these uncertainties in climate change assessments when bias-adjustment is involved. By feeding the data into a downstream application, the projected changes may differ substantially.

Tetrapyrrole derivatives such as porphyrins, phthalocyanines, naphthalocyanines, and porpholactones, are highly stable macrocyclic compounds that play important roles in many phenomena linked to the development of life. Their complexes with lanthanides are known for more than 60 years and present breath-taking properties such as a range of easily accessible redox states leading to photo- and electro-chromism, paramagnetism, large non-linear optical parameters, and remarkable light emission in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) ranges. They are at the centre of many applications with an increasing focus on their ability to generate singlet oxygen for photodynamic therapy coupled with bioimaging and biosensing properties. This review first describes the synthetic paths leading to lanthanide–tetrapyrrole complexes together with their structures. The initial synthetic protocols were plagued by low yields and long reaction times; they have now been replaced with much more efficient and faster routes, thanks to the stunning advances in synthetic organic chemistry, so that quite complex multinuclear edifices are presently routinely obtained. Aspects such as redox properties, sensitization of NIR-emitting lanthanide ions, and non-linear optical properties are then presented. The spectacular improvements in the quantum yield and brightness of YbIII-containing tetrapyrrole complexes achieved in the past five years are representative of the vitality of the field and open welcome opportunities for the bio-applications described in the last section. Perspectives for the field are vast and exciting as new derivatizations of the macrocycles may lead to sensitization of other LnIII NIR-emitting ions with luminescence in the NIR-II and NIR-III biological windows, while conjugation with peptides and aptamers opens the way for lanthanide–tetrapyrrole theranostics.

The development of near-infrared (NIR)-absorbing nanoagents for personalized multifunctional phototheranostics has attracted considerable attention in the past decade. Recently, the organic nanomaterials with good biosafety are considered as promising phototheranostic agents, while their facile synthesis remains challenging. Inspired by the preparation of carbon nanodots, we fabricate the NIR-absorbing phthalocyanine-based nanodots (ZnPc-NDs) using a facile method for multifunctional phototheranostics. The significant aggregation of phthalocyanines in nanodots induces a complete fluorescence quenching, which affords a high photothermal conversion efficiency (η = 45.7%). The ZnPc-NDs disperse very well in water media with an average diameter around 80 nm. Further conjugation of biotin on the surface of ZnPc-NDs affords tumor-targeting phthalocyanine nanodots (ZnPc-BT). The ZnPc-BT are demonstrated with favorable biocompatibility, intense photoacoustic signals, high tumor accumulation, and effective tumor suppression in vivo. This Article provides a new insight for further developing nanomedicines with imaging and therapeutic functions to treat cancers precisely and effectively.

In applications of climate information, coarse-resolution climate projections commonly need to be downscaled to a finer grid. One challenge of this requirement is the modeling of subgrid variability and the spatial and temporal dependence at the finer scale. Here, a postprocessing procedure for temperature projections is proposed that addresses this challenge. The procedure employs statistical bias correction and stochastic downscaling in two steps. In the first step, errors that are related to spatial and temporal features of the first two moments of the temperature distribution at model scale are identified and corrected. Second, residual space–time dependence at the finer scale is analyzed using a statistical model, from which realizations are generated and then combined with an appropriate climate change signal to form the downscaled projection fields. Using a high-resolution observational gridded data product, the proposed approach is applied in a case study in which projections of two regional climate models from the Coordinated Downscaling Experiment–European Domain (EURO-CORDEX) ensemble are bias corrected and downscaled to a 1 km × 1 km grid in the Trøndelag area of Norway. A cross-validation study shows that the proposed procedure generates results that better reflect the marginal distributional properties of the data product and have better consistency in space and time when compared with empirical quantile mapping.

To address the intrinsic issue of conventional porphyrin derivatives with a deficient absorption between Soret and Q bands, we designed and synthesized two porphyrin molecules (BDTP-1 and BDTP-2) bearing a meso-alkyl substituted porphyrin core, benzodithiohene (BDT) ethynylene π-bridge and end-capping ethylrhodanine derivatives. Apart from the characteristic Soret and Q bands of porphyrin macrocycle, an extra peak (521 nm for BDTP-1 and 536 nm for BDTP-2) was derived from the BDT units. Using the porphyrin small molecules as electron donors and PC71BM as an electron acceptor, the devices show broad spectral photocurrent generation with a significant contribution from greenlight-harvesting (490–550 nm), resulting in high performances with PCEs up to 7.97%.

This presentation describes projected changes in the number of days with zero-crossings (DZCs) for Norway, that is, a day where the maximum temperature exceeds 0 °C and the minimum temperature drops below 0 °C, as an example of how the Norwegian Centre for Climate Services disseminates climate information to various user groups. Changes in DZCs have been requested by several user groups in Norway, for instance by agriculture and the transport sector. A cold bias was detected in the regional climate model ensemble for Norway (here: EURO-CORDEX), which highlighted the need for bias-adjusting temperature fields before analyses. This is important for any index that is dependent on a fixed temperature threshold, not only the given index DZCs.Gridded projections of changes in DZCs were produced for the period 2071–2100 relative to 1971–2000 under RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, at a 1 × 1 km resolution. The projections have been made publicly available at the Norwegian Centre for Climate Services' website https://klimaservicesenter.no. Results show that in regions and seasons that are mild, the number of DZCs is thus projected to decrease. This decrease was found for lowland regions in spring and coastal regions in winter. In regions and seasons that are cold, the number of DZCs is projected to give more frequent crossings of the 0 °C threshold. This increase was found for inland regions in winter and the northernmost county, Finnmark, in spring. Thus, more frequent icing of the snowpack is expected in Finnmark. This information can be used by the transport sector (e.g. winter road maintenance) and agriculture (e.g. reindeer herders) in the relevant regions. The Norwegian Centre for Climate Services disseminates information through fact-sheets, web-based maps and downloadable files.

Climate change impact assessment related to floods, infrastructure networks, and water resource management applications requires realistic simulations of high-resolution gridded precipitation series under a future climate. This paper proposes to produce such simulations by combining a weather generator for high-resolution gridded daily precipitation, trained on a historical observation-based gridded data product, with coarser-scale climate change information obtained using a regional climate model. The climate change information can be added to various components of the weather generator, related to both the probability of precipitation as well as the amount of precipitation on wet days. The information is added in a transparent manner, allowing for an assessment of the plausibility of the added information. In a case study of nine hydrological catchments in central Norway with the study areas covering 1000–5500 km2, daily simulations are obtained on a 1 km grid for a period of 19 years. The method yields simulations with realistic temporal and spatial structures and outperforms empirical quantile delta mapping in terms of marginal performance.

Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is a major serine/threonine protein kinase which regulates key mitotic events such as centrosome duplication, spindle assembly and chromosome separation. Overexpression and aberrant activities of Plk1 can be detected in different types of cancer. Given that the unique polo box domain (PBD) pocket provides an excellent drug target for Plk1 binding and inhibition, we have rationally designed multifunctional lanthanide-doped upconversion nanomaterials. NaGdF

Global climate change is predicted to alter precipitation and temperature patterns across the world, affecting a range of infectious diseases and particularly foodborne infections such as Campylobacter. In this study, we used national surveillance data to analyse the relationship between climate and campylobacteriosis in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and estimate the impact of climate changes on future disease patterns. We show that Campylobacter incidences are linked to increases in temperature and especially precipitation in the week before illness, suggesting a non-food transmission route. These four countries may experience a doubling of Campylobacter cases by the end of the 2080s, corresponding to around 6,000 excess cases per year caused only by climate changes. Considering the strong worldwide burden of campylobacteriosis, it is important to assess local and regional impacts of climate change in order to initiate timely public health management and adaptation strategies.

The incorporation of intensive light absorbing porphyrins macrocycles with biocompatible nanoparticles would lead to new nanomaterials with multiple imaging and therapeutic modalities. Herein, a facile synthetic strategy has been applied to prepare porphyrin-implanted carbon nanodots (PNDs) by partial and selective pyrolysis of 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-aminophenyl)porphyrin (TAPP) and citric acid (CA) at an appropriate temperature. As-prepared PNDs exhibit not only the excellent stability and biocompatibility characteristic of carbon nanodots but also the unique properties of porphyrin macrocycle such as strong UV–visible and near-infrared absorption, specifically, high photodynamic therapy efficiency. More importantly, the PNDs with near-infrared absorption could act as a contrast agent for photoacoustic molecular imaging with deep tissue penetration and fine spatial resolution. The Cetuximab-conjugated porphyrin-based carbon nanodots (C225-PNDs) have been further prepared to precisely target the cancer cel...

Supramolecular self-assembly of a novel acceptor–π–porphyrin–π–acceptor compound driven by intermolecular sulfur–sulfur interactions leads to the formation of J-aggregates composed of helical nanowire structures. These nanowires have exhibited interesting optical activity, and when utilized as a molecular electron donor with a fullerene acceptor in bulk heterojunction organic solar cells, a high photovoltaic power conversion efficiency of over 8% has been achieved.

Through the doping of red-light-emitting [Eu(BA)3(5-Br-2,2′-bpy)] (2; HBA = 1-phenyl-1,3-butanedione; 5-Br-2,2′-bpy = 5-Br-2,2′-bipyridine) and blue-green-light-emitting [Tb(BA)3(5-Br-2,2′-bpy)] (3) into PMMA (poly(methyl methacrylate)), the obtained 2@3@PMMA (1[2/3 = 1:10]:200) exhibits color-tunable white-light. Moreover, using it as the guest of the emitting layer, a single-component white polymer light-emitting diode (WPLED) with good color stability and ultra-high color rendering index (CRI) of 86–92 is also realized.

We report a novel near-infrared (NIR) and visible dual emissive transparent Yb3+-nanopaper, which is produced from Yb3+-CQDs grafted oxidized nanofibrillated cellulose (Yb3+-CQDs-ONFC) using a press-controlled extrusion film-making method. The Yb3+-nanopaper exhibits excellent properties, including high transparency (90%), good flexibility, visible fluorescence and NIR phosphorescence. The morphology and chemical structures of Yb3+-nanopaper are investigated with SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, ICP-OES and FT-IR spectroscopy. The experimental results show that the Yb3+-CQDs have been successfully grafted onto ONFC matrix, and the Yb3+-CQDs are well dispersed in nanopaper with strong visible-NIR dual emission under only one UV excitation. In the Yb3+-nanopaper, CQDs not only act as visible fluorescence “emitter” but also as “antenna” sensitizing Yb3+ ions with NIR characteristic luminescence. And the sensitization of the energy transfer pathway is mainly through singlet state (1LC). Furthermore, the surface passivation of Yb3+-CQDs with ONFC produces an enhanced NIR luminescence by eight times in intensity. Of importance here is that high level security codes of Yb3+-nanopaper can be achieved in three fashions including colour tuning from blue to yellow, NIR/visible spectra, and nanosecond/microsecond lifetime. In addition, aqueous solution of Yb3+-CQDs-ONFC being colourless and transparent can be applied as water-based security ink and spread on the currency note or filter paper, and the spread patterns on the filter paper are stable under water or moist environment.

A new kind of highly red emissive and transparent nanopapers as ultraviolet filter are produced from lanthanide complex Eu(TTA)3(H2O)2 grafted nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) by a filtration process using a Buchner funnel. The nanopapers Eu-NFC 1–4 with different thickness (0.023 mm, 1; 0.04 mm, 2; 0.081 mm, 3 and 0.1 mm, 4) possess a fibres with dimensions of approximately 50 nm in diameter and several micrometres in length. Those nanopapers exhibit excellent ultraviolet A (UVA; 320–400 nm) filter property and high optical transmittance (>73% at wavelength of 600 nm). The presence of Eu(TTA)3(H2O)2 in Eu-NFC nanopapers can block 97% UVA (at 348 nm) light and convert it into pure red emission (CIE: x = 0.663, y = 0.333) through the efficient triplet-triplet energy transfer process. The efficient red emission can significantly improve the photo-stability of β-diketones type UVA filter. It can sustain for 10 h without decomposition under UV irradiation at 365 nm, which makes it possible to be applied in UVA filters. Moreover, its low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE: 6.39 ppm K−1 of nanocellulose), is superior to petroleum-based materials for red organic light-emitting devices.

Within series of Ln 3 -grafted polymers Poly({[Ln 3 (L) 4 (NO 3 ) 6 ]·(NO 3 )·(H 3 O) 2 }-co-NBE) (Ln = La, 1 ; Ln = Eu, 2 ; Ln = Tb, 3 ; Ln = Nd, 4 ; Ln = Yb, 5 ; Ln = Er, 6 or Ln = Gd, 7 ) obtained from ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene (NBE) with each of allyl-functionalized complex monomers {[Ln 3 (L) 4 (NO 3 ) 6 ]·(NO 3 )·(H 3 O) 2 } ( HL = 4-allyl-2-(1 H -benzo[ d ]imidazol-2-yl)-6-methoxyphenol), PNBE-assisted effective energy transfer renders Poly(3- co -NBE) Tb 3+ -centered highly luminous color-purity green-light with an attractive quantum yield of 87% and efficient near-infrared (NIR) luminescence ( Φ Nd L = 0.61%; Φ Yb L = 1.47% and Φ Er L = 0.03%) for Nd 3+ -, Yb 3+ - or Er 3+ -grafted polymers.

Drawn from the textual data in the online and printed media from mainland China and Hong Kong, this article aims to identify and feature how Chinese-style democracy is constructed by engaging in discourse analysis, arguing that China-style democracy is not a political experiment aiming to critically reflect upon the weaknesses of democracy in conceptual and procedural aspects, and not a creative project focusing on how the Chinese experiences can refresh and reframe the conventional wisdom. Instead, it is a meaning-construction project surrounding the following themes explored: (1) negative Western democracy versus positive Chinese-style democracy in terms of efficiency, (2) Western democracy as the symbol of political failure, such as street politics, domestic struggles, chaos, (3) positivity of Chinese-style democracy with China’s rise brought by reform and opening-up since 1978, and (4) perverting the language of Western democracy to construct Chinese-style democracy, such as rule of law, human rights. Specialty, uniqueness and adaption, in the main, are the common ground during the process of meaning reconstruction, with the intention to conduct the political performance for an undemocratic, illiberal and autocratic regime.

Through terpolymerization of vinyl-functionalized complex monomers 2-3 ([Zn(L)(4-vinyl-Py)Ln(BA)2(NO3)] (Ln = Eu, 2 or Ln = Tb, 3; H2L = N,N′-bis(salicylidene)cyclohexane-1,2-diamine; 4-vinyl-Py = 4-vinyl-pyridine; HBA = 1-phenyl-1,3-butanedione) with dual emissions, and/or blue-light-compensatory [Zn(L)(4-vinyl-Py)Gd(BA)2(NO3) (4) with MMA (methyl methacrylate), we offer a robust pathway to single-component while heterometallic-containing metallpolymer-type hybrid materials with color-tunable white-light as featured like Zn2+-Eu3+-Tb3+-containing Poly(2-co-MMA-co-3) and Zn2+-Eu3+-Tb3+-Gd3+-containing Poly(MMA-co-2-co-3-co-4). Moreover, by a strategy to control of optimal dye contents for managing Tb3+ to Eu3+ energy transfer and excimer formation, their intrinsic white-light emissions can be easily optimized from a precise control of primary-chromophore content and excitation wavelength, rendering both a highly luminous efficiency (15.6%) and an excellent color-quality (CIE (Commission International De L'Eclairage) coordinates of 0.334–0.344, 0.332–0.355; CCTs (corrected color temperature) of 5051–5404 K and ultra-high CRIs (color rendering index) up to 87-91) with potentials for future color-critical high-level applications.

Through the ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene (NBE) with each of allyl-containing complex monomers [Zn(L)2(µ1-OAc)Ln(µ2-OAc)2] (Ln=La, 1; Nd, 2; Yb, 3; Er, 4 or Gd, 5; HL=4-allyl-2-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-6-methoxyphenol), a series of ZnLn-grafted polymers Poly([Zn(L)2(µ1-OAc)Ln(µ2-OAc)2]-co-NBE) with desired physical properties were obtained, respectively. Within near-infrared (NIR) luminescent polymers, Poly(3-co-NBE) endows an attractive quantum yield of 1.47% in solid state, and exhibits an effective prevention of high-concentration self-quenching.

To develop new hole-transporting materials (HTMs) for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs), 5,10,15,20-tetrakis{4-[N,N-di(4-methoxylphenyl)amino-phenyl]}-porphyrin was prepared in gram scale through the direct condensation of pyrrole and 4-[bis(4-methoxyphenyl)amino]benzaldehyde. Its Zn(II) and Cu(II) complexes exhibit excellent thermal and electrochemical stability, specifically a high hole mobility and very favorable energetics for hole extraction that render them a new class of HTMs in organometallic halide PSCs. As expected, ZnP as HTM in PSCs affords a competitive power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.78%, which is comparable to that of the most powerful HTM of Spiro-MeOTAD (18.59%) under the same working conditions. Meanwhile, the metal centers affect somewhat the photovoltaic performances that CuP as HTM produces a lower PCE of 15.36%. Notably, the PSCs employing ZnP show a much better stability than Spiro-OMeTAD. Moreover, the two porphyrin-based HTMs can be prepared from relatively cheap raw materials with a facile synthetic route. The results demonstrate that ZnP and CuP can be a new class of HTMs for efficient and stable PSCs. To the best of our knowledge, this is the best performance that porphyrin-based solar cells could show with PCE17%.

Porphyrins are good photodynamic therapy (PDT) agents due to its flexibility for modifications to achieve tumor localization and photo-cytotoxicity against cancer. Yet they are not perfect. In a Ru(polypyridyl)-porphyrin system, the Ru(polypyridyl) moiety improves the water solubility and cell permeability. Consider the similar excited state energies between Ru(polypyridyl) and porphyrin moieties; a small perturbation (e.g. Zn(II) metalation) would lead to a marked change in the energy migration process. In this work, we have synthesized a series of porphyrins conjugated with Ru(polypyridyl) complexes using different linkers and investigated their photophysical properties, which included singlet oxygen quantum yield and their in vitro biological properties, resulting from linker variation and porphyrin modification by Zn(II) metalation.

Through the ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene (NBE) with each of obtained allyl-containing complex monomers [Zn(L) 2 (Py)Ln(NO 3 ) 3 ] (Ln = La, 1 ; Nd, 2 ; Yb, 3 ; Er, 4 or Gd, 5 ; HL = 4-allyl-2-(1 H -benzo[ d ]imidazol-2-yl)-6-methoxyphenol; Py = pyridine), a series of metallopolymers Poly(NBE- co -[Zn(L) 2 Ln(Py)(NO 3 ) 3 )]) were obtained, respectively. Especially for Poly(NBE- co -2) and Poly(NBE- co -3) , covalently-bonded grafting endows significantly improved physical properties including efficient NIR luminescence ( Φ Nd L = 0.63% and Φ Yb L = 1.43%) in solid state.

Most of the currently available small molecule bulk heterojunction organic solar cells (BHJ OSCs) only utilize visible light and, to further increase the efficiency, the development of new organic materials that harvest near-infrared (NIR) light to produce an electric current is essential. Herein, a new A–π2–D–π1–D–π2–A type dimeric porphyrin-cored small molecule (CS-DP) is designed, synthesized and characterized. The use of CS-DP with a narrow bandgap (Eg) (1.22 eV) and the deep energy levels of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) affords the highest power conversion efficiency of 8.29% in BHJ OSCs with PC71BM as an acceptor, corresponding to a short circuit current of 15.19 mA cm−2, an open circuit voltage of 0.796 V and a fill factor of 70% under AM 1.5G solar irradiation. The high device performance is attributed to the visible-near-infrared light-harvesting capability of CS-DP, and the super low energy loss feature. The energy loss (Eloss) lies between 0.43 and 0.51 eV in the system, which is related to the very small energy offset of the LUMOs between the CS-DP donor and PC71BM (ΔELUMO = 0.06 eV). The value of ΔELUMO, which is considered as a driving force for the photoinduced charge separation, is much smaller than the empirical threshold of 0.3 eV, but would not be a limiting factor in the charge separation process. The results indicate that there may be room for further improving the PCE for low bandgap dimeric porphyrin systems.

Through an approach of pre-coordination and following terpolymerization from vinyl-functionalized complex monomers [Ln(TTA)3(4-VB-PBI)] (Ln = Eu, 2; Ln = Tb, 3 and Ln = Gd, 4; HTTA = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonate; 4-VB-PBI = 1-(4-vinylbenzyl)-2-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole) with methyl methacrylate, the first example of a single-component Eu2+–Tb3+–Gd3+-grafted polymer Poly(MMA-co-2-co-3-co-4) was obtained. Moreover, control of an optimal dye content for suppressing Tb3+ to Eu3+ energy transfer and exciton formation provides new perspectives for hetero-Ln3+-grafted polymers as featured in Poly(MMA-co-2-co-3-co-4) with color-tuning to direct white-light (Commission International De L'Eclairage coordinates of x = 0.322, y = 0.331; corrected color temperature of 5979 K; and color rendering index up to 94), including a highly luminous efficiency of 17.8%.

Through the radical copolymerization of MMA (methyl methacrylate) with a vinyl-containing complex monomer {[Yb4(L)2(HL)2(μ3-OH)2(NO3)2]·(NO3)2} (1; H2L = N,N′’-bis-(5-(3′-vinylphenyl)-3-methoxy-salicylidene)cyclohexane-1,2-diamine), the first example of PMMA-supported and Yb4(Salen)4-containing metallopolymer Poly(1-co-MMA) exhibits significantly improved physical properties besides relatively higher NIR quantum yields (ΦYbYb = 1.18% and ΦLYb = 0.86%) than those (ΦYbYb = 1.02–1.04% and ΦLYb = 0.73–0.75%) of complex monomer 1 in solution and 1@PMMA in solid state.

We have synthesized a bifunctional erbium–porphyrin tumor imaging and PDT agent (Er–R3) that is capable of killing bladder cancer cellsviaits selective binding to the integrin αvβ3isoform overexpressed on the cell membrane.

Although lanthanide double-decker complexes with hetero-macrocyclic ligands as functional luminescent and magnetic materials have promising properties, their inferior water solubility has negated their biomedical applications. Herein, four water-soluble homoleptic lanthanide (Ln = Gd, Er, Yb and La) sandwiches with diethylene-glycol-disubstituted porphyrins (DD) are reported, with their structures proven by both quantum chemical calculations and scanning tunneling microscopy. Our findings demonstrate that the near-infrared emission intensity and singlet oxygen (1O2) quantum yields of YbDD and GdDD in aqueous media are higher than those of the reported capped lanthanide monoporphyrinato analogues, YbN and GdN; the brightness and luminescence lifetime in water of YbDD are greater than those of YbN. This work provides a new dimension for the future design and development of molecular theranostics-based water-soluble double-decker lanthanide bisporphyrinates., Near-infrared devices: Water-soluble probes use rare earths to brighten bioimaging Tweaking the chemical structure of naturally occurring rings called porphyrins has improved the biocompatibility of molecular probes that emit bright light at low doses. Recent studies have shown that rare earths can act as potent sources of near-infrared light when they are attached to porphyrin ‘antennas’ that transfer absorbed light energy to the metal. Ka-Leung Wong from Hong Kong Baptist University and co-workers have now developed porphyrin—rare earth complexes that can easily enter aqueous environments such as bodily fluids. The team synthesized water-friendly porphyrins by adding short diethylene glycol chains to the ring framework, and used them to trap rare earths including ytterbium into sandwich-shaped arrangements. Characterizations revealed the new complexes retained their efficient, long-lasting light emissions in aqueous solutions, and could act as generators of electronically excited oxygen for photodynamic therapy.

To mimic the natural photosynthetic systems utilizing chlorophylls to absorb light and store light energy, two new porphyrin-based small molecules of PTTR and PTTCNR have been developed for photovoltaic applications. The highest power conversion efficiency of 8.21% is achieved, corresponding to a short-circuit current of 14.30 mA cm–2, open-circuit voltage of 0.82 V, and fill factor of 70.01%. The excellent device performances can be ascribed to the engineering of molecule structure and film morphology. The horizontal conjugation of 3,3″-dihexyl-terthiophene to porphyrin-core with the vertical aliphatic 2-octylundecyl peripheral substitutions, can not only effectively increase the solar flux coverage between the conventional Soret and Q bands of porphyrin unit, but also optimize molecular packing through polymorphism associated with side-chains and the linear π-conjugated backbones. And the additive of 1,8-diiodooctane and subsequent chloroform solvent vapor annealing facilitate the formation of the blend...

A series of mononuclear Cu(I) complexes formulated as [Cu(L)Br] were prepared by reaction of copper(I) bromide with equimolar amounts of bis(pyrazol-1-ylmethyl)- pyridine (L) in toluene solvent. The five complexes were characterized by UV/Vis, 1H NMR and MS spectroscopy. The molecular structure of complex B2 has been established by single-crystal analyses. It features a tetrahedral copper center surrounded by three nitrogen atoms from the chelating pyridine–pyrazole ligand and one halogen atom. The complexes are luminescent in the solid state at ambient temperature. Intense green or yellow emission is observed, with maxima in the range of 520–569 nm, depending on the substitution pattern of the pyridine–pyrazole ligands used for the complexation. The emission lifetimes of the complexes in powder were in a dozen microseconds, indicating that the emission may be phosphorescent in origin. Moreover, the emission energies of the complexes show a concentration-dependence in the rigid environment, probably due to the different geometry in the lowest excited states. The emission of the complexes was assigned to metal-to-ligand charge-transfer excited states with some mixing of the halide-to-ligand characters, which was further supported by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

This article aims to examine the features of, and difficulties in, the development of Scholarism and Hong Kong Federation of Students after the Umbrella Movement (2014). This article first introduces the emergence of both organizations, aiming to provide the necessary background to their features, notably student activism, politicization, and issue-based reasons in launching campaigns. This is followed by an analysis of the difficulties faced by both organizations with reference to leadership, orientation, organizational capacity and networking, as reflected in the disappointment and disillusionment of a significant number of participants during the movement. The article then moves on to investigate the possible methods adopted by both organizations to consolidate their strengths in light of the above weaknesses, focusing on the buttressing of accountability and reform. In conclusion, the reorganization of student power is of key concern during the process in face of the increasing political intervention of the Beijing authorities and political decay of the Hong Kong government.

In the series of binary tris- β -diketonate complexes [Ln(L) 3 (Phen)] (HL = ( Z )-3-methyl-1-phenyl-4-(2,2,2-trifluoro-1-hydroxyethylidene)-1 H -pyrazol-5(4 H )-one; Phen = 1,10-phenanthroline; Ln = La, 1 ; Ln = Nd, 2 ; Ln = Yb, 3 ; Ln = Er, 4 or Ln = Gd, 5 ), the relatively lower ligands-based 3 ππ ⁎ energy level (18,727 cm − 1 ) results in the highly efficient NIR luminescence ( Ф Yb Yb = 1.37% and Ф Yb L = 1.06%) of Yb 3 + -based 3 in solution and the higher NIR quantum yield ( Ф Yb Yb = 1.77% and Ф Yb L = 1.31%) in PMMA (Poly(methyl methacrylate) besides the improved physical properties.

Through the copolymerization of a complex monomer [Zn(L)(4-vinyl-Py)Eu(TTA) 3 ] ( 2 ; H 2 L = N , N ′-bis(salicylidene)cyclohexane-1.2-diamine; 4-vinyl-Py = 4-vinyl-pyridine and HTTA = 2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonate) with MMA (methyl methacrylate), the first example of PMMA-supported and highly luminous ( Ф Eu L = 63.1%) color-purity red-light metallopolymer poly(MMA- co - 2 ) based on a tris- β -diketonate Zn 2 + -Eu 3 + -complex is obtained.

Theranostic photodynamic nanomaterials suffer from poor water solubility and nontargeted toxicity. A water-soluble graphitic-phase carbon nitride-based material (g-C3 N4 ) conjugated to a positively charged porphyrin P2 (conjugating concentration: 60 μm mg-1 mL-1 ) is shown to be a new concept of photodynamic therapeutic agent (g-C3 N4 -P2). The pH-sensitive emission of g-C3 N4 is the driving force for the generation of 1 O2 from g-C3 N4 -P2. The amount of 1 O2 /light generated from a photosensitizer porphyrin can be controlled by the pH-sensitive emission of g-C3 N4 at acidic pH (pH 4-6), especially under acidic conditions mimicking those of tumor tissue, and thus has the potential to be utilized as a cancer-selective PDT agent.

International audience; It is generally accepted that drought is one of the most costly weather-related natural hazards. In 2015, a long-lasting drought hit Europe, particularly affecting central and eastern Europe. In some regions it was the driest (North Slovakia) and in others (Czech Republic and Poland) it was the second driest summer of the last 50 years (following 2003). Key questions are: (i) how extreme are these events, not only in terms of hydro-meteorological characteristics but also impacts? and (ii) how are these impacts managed?

This paper presents the background, objectives, and preliminary outcomes from the first year of activities of the Polish–Norwegian project CHIHE (Climate Change Impact on Hydrological Extremes). The project aims to estimate the influence of climate changes on extreme river flows (low and high) and to evaluate the impact on the frequency of occurrence of hydrological extremes. Eight “twinned” catchments in Poland and Norway serve as case studies. We present the procedures of the catchment selection applied in Norway and Poland and a database consisting of near-natural ten Polish and eight Norwegian catchments constructed for the purpose of climate impact assessment. Climate projections for selected catchments are described and compared with observations of temperature and precipitation available for the reference period. Future changes based on those projections are analysed and assessed for two periods, the near future (2021–2050) and the far-future (2071–2100). The results indicate increases in precipitation and temperature in the periods and regions studied both in Poland and Norway.

Neutral mononuclear Cu(I) complexes based on 2,2′-dipyridylamine (dpa), formulated as [Cu(dpa)X(PPh3)] (X = Cl (A4), Br (A5), I (A6)), monocationic mononuclear Cu(I) complexes with counterion BF4−, i.e. [Cu(dpa)(PPh3)2](BF4) (A1), Cu(dpa)(DPEphos)(BF4) (A2) and [Cu(dpa)(Binap)](BF4) (A3), where DPEphos = bis [2-(diphenylphosphino) phenyl] ether, Binap = 2,2′-bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1′-binaphthyl, have been prepared and characterized by 1H NMR, mass spectroscopy and single-crystal X-ray analyses. Their photophysical properties in both CH2Cl2 solution and PMMA (poly(methyl methacrylate)) film have been investigated. All the complexes display a typical metal-to-ligand charge transfer absorption band in the region of 350–400 nm, and a broad and featureless luminescence at room temperature. Specifically, their emission maxima vary from 494 to 562 nm in the PMMA films due to the different electronic characteristics of the auxiliary ligands. Additionally, the thermogravimetric analysis shows that those complexes chelated with diphosphine ligands have a higher thermal stability than those with triphenylphosphine or halides ligands.

A new rhodamine-based fluorescent probe based on the known ring-opening mechanism of rhodamine derivative, was successfully synthesized and demonstrated to detect the Hg2+ with high selectivity and sensitivity in aqueous solution and living cells. In the presence of Hg2+, the probe exhibit remarkably amplified absorption with a binding constant determined as 8.76±0.13, followed by a distinct change in color and 560-fold enhancement of fluorescence with a reversible response and little interference with other biological relevant metal ions. Moreover, the confocal microscopic switch-on imaging in MCF-7 cells of the probe towards Hg2+, together with its non-cytotoxicity and efficient cellular uptake, confirmed that the probe can be used as a biocompatible probe for monitoring of Hg2+ in living cells.

Lanthanide hybridized carbon quantum dots (Ln-CQDs) were synthesized by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method using citric acid as a carbon precursor and Yb3+ or Nd3+ as a doping ion. The morphology and chemical structures of Ln-CQDs were investigated by TEM, XRD, XPS, and FTIR spectroscopy. The obtained Ln-CQDs are spherical and well dispersed in water, and their aqueous solutions emit strong blue emission under UV excitation. The Ln-CQDs exhibit excitation-dependent PL behavior with the emission maximum ranging from 443 to 552 nm under 300–520 nm excitation. Moreover, the carbon quantum dots can not only act as visible imaging agents, but also as antennae for photoluminescence (PL) of lanthanide ions. Hence, CQDs hybridized with Yb3+ or Nd3+ ions exhibit the characteristic emission in the near-infrared region with the emission maximum centered at about 998 and 1068 nm, respectively. The MTT assay against HeLa cells verified the low cytotoxicity of Ln-CQDs. They have been used as excellent optical probes for multicolor cell-imaging, demonstrating their great potential for both visible/NIR bioimaging and biomedical applications in vivo.

Through a facile impregnation synthesis, new noble-metal-free Co(OH)2/CdS nanowires (NWs) have been developed for photocatalytic hydrogen production. The loading of Co(OH)2 on CdS NWs can effectively accelerate the charge separation and transfer in photocatalytic reactions, leading to an enhanced H2 production rate (HPR). The optimum HPR based on Co(OH)2/CdS reaches 14.43 mmol h−1 g−1 under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm) irradiation, which is 206 times higher than for the pristine CdS NWs and even 3 times higher than for 1 wt% Pt/CdS NWs as a benchmark. Impressively, core–shell structural Co(OH)2/CdS NWs formed by visible-light-induced self-assembly during the photocatalytic reaction. And the core–shell structural characteristics of the Co(OH)2/CdS NWs can effectively avoid light corrosion, leading to a stable HPR in 12 hours duration.

Direct white-light (CIE coordinate of x = 0.333, y = 0.335, CCT of 5455 K and CRI of 82) with a high luminous efficiency (18.4%) was achieved in the first example of Eu(3+)-Gd(3+)-containing metallopolymer Poly(2-co-NVK-co-4), which also showed tunable purplish-blue to white to yellow-green photoluminescence.

Based on the self-assembly of a trifluorinated and acylpyrazole-modified β-diketonate ligand HL ((Z)-3-methyl-1-phenyl-4-(2,2,2-trifluoro-1-hydroxyethylidene)-1 H -pyrazol-5(4H)-one), LnCl3·6H2O (Ln = La, Nd, Yb, Er, Gd, Eu or Tb) and 2,2′-bpy (2,2′-bipyridine), seven tris-β-diketonate complexes [Ln(L)3(2,2′-bpy)] (Ln = La, 1; Ln = Nd, 2; Ln = Yb, 3; Ln = Er, 4; Ln = Gd, 5; Ln = Eu, 6 or Ln = Tb, 7) were obtained, respectively, where the relatively lower ligands-based 3ππ* energy level results in the good NIR luminescent properties (ФLLn = (0.068–1.12% and ηsens = 54-83%) for complexes 2 and 3. Especially for their series of PMMA-supported hybrid materials [Ln(L)3(2,2′-bpy)]@PMMA, the doping not only causes the improved thermal stability and film-forming property, but also endows more efficient NIR luminescent property even at a doping concentration up to 1:200.

Three A–D–A porphyrin-based small molecules are employed as donors in bulky heterojunction organic solar cells. Striking a delicate balance between solubility, morphology and device fabrication, leads to PCEs of up to 7.7%., Porphyrin-based small molecules as donors have long been ignored in bulky heterojunction organic solar cells due to their unfavorable aggregation and the low charge mobility. With the aim of striking a delicate balance between molecular design, morphology, interfacial layer and device fabrication to maximize the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of organic solar cells, three comparable porphyrin-based small molecules with an acceptor–donor–acceptor configuration have been developed for use as donor materials in solution processed small molecule bulk heterojunction organic solar cells. In these molecules, electron-deficient 3-ethylrhodanine is introduced into the electron-rich porphyrin core through 5,15-bis(phenylethynyl) linkers. Structural engineering with 10,20-bis(2-hexylnonyl) aliphatic peripheral substituent on the porphyrin core, instead of the aromatic substituents such as 10,20-bis[3,5-di(dodecyloxyl)phenyl], and 10,20-bis(4-dodecyloxylphenyl), can simultaneously facilitate stronger intermolecular π–π stacking and higher charge transfer mobility in the film, leading to a maximum PCE of 7.70% in a conventional device. The inverted devices have also been demonstrated to have long-term ambient stability and a comparable PCE of 7.55%.

Through doping or grafting of a new ZnNd Schiff-base complex monomer [Zn(L)(4-vinyl-Py)Nd(NO3)3] (2; H2L = N,N′-bis(3-methoxy-salicylidene)phenylene-1,2-diamine; 4-vinyl-Py = 4-vinyl-pyridine) into PMMA (poly(methyl methacrylate)), two kinds of hybrid materials 2@PMMA and Poly(2-co-MMA) with significantly improved physical properties including good Nd3 +-centered near-infrared (NIR) luminescence were obtained. Especially the single-nodal ZnNd-grafted Poly(2-co-MMA) soluble in organic solvents exhibits the high sensitization efficiency (ηsens = ΦNdL/ΦNdNd = 81%) even at a high feed molar ratio up to 1:50.

Through the ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene (NBE) with each of the obtained allyl-containing complex monomers {[Ln3(L)4Cl4(MeOH)2]·Cl} (Ln = La, 1; Nd, 2; Yb, 3; Er, 4 or Gd, 5; HL = 4-allyl-2-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-6-methoxyphenol), a series of metallopolymers Poly({[Ln3(L)4Cl4(MeOH)2]·Cl}-co-NBE) were obtained, respectively. Especially for Poly(NBE-co-2) and Poly(NBE-co-3), covalently-bonded grafting endows significantly improved physical properties including efficient NIR luminescence (ΦNdL = 0.58% and ΦYbL = 0.88%) in solid state.