Confinement Conditions Research Articles

Biomarkers of Exposure and Potential Harm in Two Weeks of Smoking Abstinence: Changes in Biomarkers of Platelet Function, Oxidative Stress, and Inflammation.

: Chronic cigarette smoking is a major risk factor for many serious diseases. While complete cessation of smoking is the best option to reduce harm from smoking, adverse impacts of smoking on health could persist for several years after cessation. Therefore, Biomarkers of Potential Harm (BoPH) are useful in interim evaluations of the beneficial effects of smoking cessation or switching to potentially lower-risk tobacco products. A 14-day smoking abstinence study was conducted under clinical confinement conditions and enrolled 70 subjects into younger (24-34 years, n = 33) and older (35-60 years, n = 37) age cohorts. Biomarkers of Exposure (BoE), which indicate exposure to nicotine and other toxicants, were measured at baseline, 7 and 14 days. Several BoPH including previously identified eicosanoids (leukotriene 4 (LTE4) and 2,3-dinor thromboxane 2 (2,3-d-TXB2) and others were evaluated. Significant declines in BoE, LTE4, 2,3-d-TXB2, neutrophils, WBC and select RBC, and arterial blood gas parameters were observed in both age cohorts at Days 7 and 14 compared to baseline, while other BoPH (e.g., FeNO) showed age-related effects. Rapid and reproducible reductions in LTE4, 2,3-d-TXB2 WBC, and neutrophil counts were consistently detected following smoking abstinence, indicating the value of these markers as useful BoPH.

Degraded Ballast Stiffness Characterization Using Bender Element Field Sensor and PANDA® Penetrometer

The progressive degradation of railway ballast over time increases the degree of ballast fouling and poses significant drainability concerns leading to frequent maintenance activities. To avoid such issues, an effective and continuous characterization of the physical properties of the ballast layer is deemed necessary. This paper introduces the combined use of a bender element (BE) piezoelectric field sensor and a PANDA® dynamic cone penetrometer for periodic evaluations of ballast condition over the traffic use. To simulate various levels of ballast degradation, box tests were conducted using a dolomitic ballast material compacted in a laboratory-sized testbed with fouling indices ranging from zero to 39%. BE sensor pairs were embedded in the ballast layer to calculate the small strain modulus behavior of the ballast assessed through shear wave velocity measurements under different confinement conditions. Strength profiles of the ballast at different fouling levels were also measured using the PANDA® penetrometer. Experimental findings from both test methods indicate the existence of a dense state of ballast linked to a certain fouling index that maximized stiffness and strength characteristics of the tested ballast in dry condition. Accordingly, the potential use of BE field sensors embedded within in-service ballasted track coupled with periodic penetration testing can be a viable approach to evaluate ballast layer degradation. Various void packing conditions associated with ballast fouling levels can be linked to important ballast layer modulus and strength behavior. Further, such smart sensing of ballasted track behavior can provide long-term performance monitoring solutions for ballast cleaning and maintenance scheduling.

Nonlinear finite element investigations on different configurations of exterior beam-column connections with different concrete strengths in column and floor

The fast development of quality concrete production has increased the usage of high-strength concrete (HSC) in the columns of high-rise buildings where high axial column loads exist. In contrast, normal-strength concrete (NSC) is used in the floor system for economic reasons. This produces a weak concrete zone at the intersection of columns and floors. Studies focused on evaluating the performance of such connections are still limited. The current numerical study investigates the performance of such connections. The developed numerical model has been verified against the experimental test for connections with different column-to-beam strengths. The numerical model has demonstrated acceptable accuracy compared to the experimental results. Moreover, the validated model has been employed to investigate the influence of different column-to-floor strengths on connections with and without transverse beams and floor slabs. It has been found that the strength and stiffness of connections with different concrete strengths have been improved compared to monolithic connections. Furthermore, the increase in joint strength and stiffness for connections with different column-to-floor strengths is more pronounced for connections with transverse beams and floor slabs due to their contribution to achieving proper confinement conditions for the weak concrete in the joint zone. In addition, the presence of a transverse beam affects the induced stress of the beam bars, resulting in a change in the mode of failure to beam flexural failure, whereas the presence of a slab floor increases both the stiffness and flexural strength of the beam. However, connections with the floor slab suffered high damage due to the transferred equilibrium torsion. Moreover, connections with different column-to-floor strengths exhibited larger stains in their joint stirrups; hence, additional joint stirrups are recommended to avoid the brittle shear failure of the joint. The study ended by evaluating the response of such connections under high axial column loads. It has been observed that planer connections perform poorly in terms of strength and ductility, while adequate performance has been observed for connections with transverse beams or slabs. Therefore, the role of the transverse beam and slab should be taken into account in the design of the connections with different column-to-floor strengths.

Hydrogeochemical characterization of the alluvial aquifer of Catania Plain, Sicily (South Italy)

A hydrogeochemical study was carried out on the shallow Catania Plain alluvial aquifer, in eastern Sicily to reconstruct its hydrogeological structure, the meteoric recharge and to assess the influence of human activities on groundwater. To characterize the geochemistry of the shallow aquifer, two sampling campaigns were carried out, August–October 2004 and April–May 2005 in 47 sites distributed throughout the plain. The samples were collected and analyzed for physical–chemical parameters and major ions, as well as stable isotopes (δ18O and δ2H). Alluvial deposits with heterogeneous grain sizes constitute the aquifer. Varying conditions of vertical and horizontal permeability lead to the presence of a multilayered aquifer with different conditions of confinement and partial interconnection among layers. The sampled waters were separated into four groups of different compositions due to the water–rock interaction with the different lithologies present in and around the study area. Maps of electrical conductivity and sulfate show a systematic control of land use, in correspondence with the biggest farms. High sulfate concentration is due to both the natural interaction between local meteoric waters and Etna’s plume and the mixing with groundwater coming from the area where evaporitic rocks of the Gessoso Solfifera formation are present. In addition, anthropogenic contamination cannot be ruled out. A rain gauge network, consisting of 3 sites located at different altitudes, was installed to collect rain waters to determine isotopic data (δ2H and δ18O) and to measure the monthly rainfall amount. Based on the isotopic composition of sampled waters, it has been established that beyond the direct meteoric recharge, the recharging areas are in the North (Mt. Etna) and the South (Hyblean Plateau).

Size and environment: The effect of phonon localization on micro-Brillouin imaging

Specifically designed samples have been analyzed to test the ability of Brillouin spectroscopy to provide reliable mechanical characterization of micro and nano-objects. The selected samples are polymeric films, whose transversal sizes from hundreds of nano- to some micro-meters cover the entire range of length-scales relevant in Brillouin scattering process. The experimental data highlight how, the size of the extended collective oscillation (acoustic phonons, in brief) is the lowest spatial resolution reachable in Brillouin mechanical characterization. Conversely, in the limit condition of phonon confinement, the technique provides the mechanical properties of nano-objects whose characteristic size is comparable with the phonon wavelength (⁓300 nm). Investigating acoustically heterogeneous materials, both size of heterogeneity and acoustic mismatch between adjacent regions are shown to be relevant in shaping the Brillouin response. In particular, a transition from a confined to a non-confined condition is obtained modulating the acoustic mismatch between the micro-objects and their local environment. The provided results and the derived analytic models for the data analysis will guide the interpretation of Brillouin spectra acquired in complex nano-structured samples such as cells, tissues or biomimetic materials. Our analysis can therefore generate new insights to tackle fundamental problems in mechanobiology or to characterize new bioengineered materials.

Damage evolution and full-field 3D strain distribution in passively confined concrete

The damage evolution of concrete under multiple stress states is complicated because the triaxial stress on the heterogeneous concrete affects mesoscale interactions between aggregates and mortar, which further alters the internal cracking of concrete and its load bearing mechanism. Hence, probing the internal cracking evolution of concrete under a complex stress state is the key to better understanding the characteristics and failure mechanism of concrete material. This study conducted a series of X-ray computed tomography (X-CT) tests on fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) confined concrete with varied in situ axial load levels. Different cross-sections of concrete specimens—circular, square with round corners, and square with sharp corners—were designed to achieve uniform or nonuniform passive confinement conditions. The obtained volumetric images from X-CT clearly exhibited the internal damage evolution of concrete, where crack growth, shear banding, and failure localization were displayed for the concrete under varying triaxial stress states. The development of damage to concrete due to cracking with increasing load was also quantified by image segmentation. In addition, the digital volumetric correlation technique (DVC) was employed to produce the volumetric displacement field and strain distribution in the confined concrete according to the image variation of natural speckles. A three-dimensional internal strain analysis revealed that strain localization was mainly caused by mesoscale concrete heterogeneity and nonuniform confinement. More importantly, this study provides the first database of full-field strain tensors for FRP-confined concrete under different axial load levels. These data are valuable for the development of concrete mechanics, failure criteria of materials, and computational modeling of concrete materials and their structures, especially for concrete under complex stress states.

Carbon nanotube membrane armed with confined iron for peroxymonosulfate activation towards efficient tetracycline removal

The water treatment performance of metal-based peroxymonosulfate (PMS) catalytic membrane is always limited by the finite residence time and complex water matrixes. Therefore, the development of high efficiency and anti-interference PMS catalytic membrane is of great significance. In this work, an oxidized carbon nanotube membrane with Fe2O3 nanoparticle confined inside (Fe2O3@OCNT) has been fabricated for enhanced PMS activation in the membrane filtration process (MFPA process). The experiment results showed that through fine-tuning the confinement degree of Fe2O3 in OCNT, the non-radical electron transfer pathway was gradually enhanced and became the dominant process. Under the suitable confinement condition, the tetracycline (TC) removal in the Fe2O3@OCNT MFPA process was up to 96.1 % with a residence time of only 8.0 s, which remarkably outperformed the powder-based or batch process. The high efficiency of the membrane was attributed to the enhanced mass transfer and non-radical electron transfer process due to the nanoconfinement effect. This was supported by theoretical calculations, where it was showed that confining Fe2O3 inside OCNT not only enhanced the electron activity in the lumen of OCNT, but also increased the adsorption energy for PMS. In addition, the four possible degradation pathways of TC were proposed based on Fukui function analysis and LC-MS results. This system displayed reusability and good stability for TC removal (5 cycles > 85 %, low Fe leaching of 10 μg·L-1, and long-term running of 48 h) and wide applicability for different pollutants, while also demonstrated unique anti-interference property in the presence of inorganic ions and in real water matrixes.

Confinement, Environment, and Slave Ships in Early Modern Ocean Voyages

AbstractThis article explores how onboard sociocultural practices were shaped by different conceptions of human and external environment on seventeenth- and early eighteenth-century French ships embarking for the Indian Ocean basin or across the Atlantic to the Caribbean. In these environments, in which large numbers of people were confined together, physical conditions shaped the sensory and social dynamics of ocean voyages, while they made ships ambiguous sites for the implementation of spiritual practices. Concepts of society responded to a largely unrecognizable marine environment; shipboard conditions of physical confinement were thought conducive to moral disorder, while ships were conceived of as a source of potentially subversive human energies that had to be channeled. These tensions reached a paroxysm on the slave ships increasingly crossing the Atlantic in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The conditions within early modern ships, this article contends, were exacerbated by multiple external factors, making the ship a uniquely unsustainable environment.

Self-Assembly of Gyroid-Forming Diblock Copolymers under Spherical Confinement

The self-assembly of gyroid-forming diblock copolymers (diBCPs) confined in spherical cavities was systematically investigated by simulations and experiments. The Monte Carlo simulations were carried out on the single-site bond fluctuation model of two gyroid-forming diBCPs of different volume fractions using the simulated annealing method. The experimental study was performed on gyroid-forming poly(styrene)-b-poly(lactic acid) diBCPs confined in spherical cavities. The cavities were fabricated through the assembly of polystyrene colloids to form opal structures, followed by replacement to form inverse opal structures. The surface of the cavities was composed of hydrophobic polyurethane acrylate and hydrophilic SiO2, providing confining surfaces with a different preference for specific polymeric blocks. It was observed from both the experiments and simulation that, depending on the conditions of spherical confinement, a rich array of nanostructures was self-assembled from the gyroid-forming diBCPs. The morphological predictions of simulations are qualitatively consistent with the experimental observations. The self-assembled structures depend sensitively on the surface selectivity and the degree of confinement quantified by the ratio D/L0, where D and L0 are the spherical diameter and period of the equilibrium gyroid phase, respectively. The formed nanostructured self-supporting spheres have considerable potential for applications in drug release, catalysts, optoelectronic devices, filters, and other applications.

К вопросу об оперативно-режимных мерах обеспечения личной безопасности осужденных, содержащихся в исправительных колониях

The article discusses some issues of ensuring operational regime measures to guarantee the personal safety of convicts held in corrective colonies at the present stage. The relevance of examining the stated issues is determined by the objective need to improve Russian legislation and the practice of its application in this area, including based on the achievements of foreign countries in this area. Operational regime measures to ensure the personal safety of convicts held in corrective colonies have an overt and covert character. From a practical point of view, it is advisable to study these measures taking into account the convicts' confinement conditions. To overcome the problems existing in this area, it seems necessary to create scientifically based standards for convicts' supervision with due regard to the principle of one employee for one detachment of convicts. As part of the training of penitentiary officers in educational institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, more attention should be paid to the practical development of algorithms for ensuring the personal safety of convicts. There is a need to increase the number of safe places in the projects of correctional facilities of a united type planned within the framework of the Concept for the Development of the Penitentiary System of the Russian Federation for the Period up to 2030. The relevance of the problems listed above necessitates their further theoretical understanding and resolution in the norms of legislation and in the practice of its application.

Introduction to the Special Section.

Introduction to the Special Section Franklin G. Miller Happy is a female elephant who has been confined at the Bronx Zoo for over 40 years. In 2018 the Nonhuman Rights Project sued the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the zoo, seeking habeas corpus for Happy in order to release her to an elephant sanctuary. Numerous amicus curiae briefs were filed in favor and against the petition on behalf of Happy. The case reached the highest court in New York State, which denied the petition of the plaintiff in June 2022. This special section includes views on the case of Happy by David DeGrazia, Martha Nussbaum, and Christine Korsgaard, three distinguished moral philosophers who have made significant contributions to animal ethics. The essays by Martha Nussbaum and Christine Korsgaard are drawn from the amicus briefs that they filed in the legal proceedings, which they agreed could be published here. Professor Nussbaum applies her "capabilities approach" as a foundation for promoting wellbeing and recognizing rights to Happy and to elephants in general. She argues that Happy is a being with a meaningful life and is entitled to be treated with respect and dignity, which is incompatible with her conditions of confinement at the zoo. Professor Korsgaard applies her understanding of the moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant to the case of Happy—a "cognitively sophisticated [End Page 1] animal" which, like human beings, should be treated as an end in herself and not merely as a means to the purposes of human beings. Professor DeGrazia, in an invited essay, analyzes the meanings of "person" and examines the pertinent characteristics of elephants that make them at least "borderline persons," with the moral status of possessing basic rights. While Happy remains confined at the Bronx Zoo, these three incisive contributions challenge readers to reflect on the ethical treatment of nonhuman animals, especially those with complex and rich capacities of intelligence and emotion. [End Page 2] Franklin G. Miller Weill Cornell Medical College, New York Copyright © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press ...

ОСОБЕННОСТИ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ТРУДА ЖЕНЩИН, ОСУЖДЕННЫХ К ЛИШЕНИЮ СВОБОДЫ

The study aims to examine the main issues in managing the employment of convicted women serving sentences in places of confinement, as promoting respect for labor among convicts is an important factor in their social adaptation. The main objectives of the article include examining the issue of convicts’ motivation to work, emphasizing the main issues of employment for women sentenced to imprisonment, and studying foreign practices in managing convicts labor, with several states as examples. Methods of empirical (comparative analysis) and theoretical research (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction) are used as scientific research methods. As a result of the study, the authors propose solutions to the identified problems in managing labor of convicted women, such as expanding the list of professions, including creative activities, that can be mastered by convicted women, while being in demand and promising in the labor market at present. Labor for convicted women allows for both the improvement of their confinement conditions, resocialization of convicts and mastery of their personal and professional qualities, which make it possible to earn money on their own.

Bioinspired nucleic acid-based dynamic networks for signal dynamics

Signaling dynamic networks in living systems determine the conversion of environmental information into biological activities. Systems chemistry, focusing on studying complex chemical systems, promotes the connections between chemistry and biology and provides a new way to mimic these signaling dynamic processes by designing artificial networks and understanding their emerging properties and functions that are absent in isolated molecules. Nucleic acids, while relatively simple in their design and synthesis, encode rich structural and functional information in their base sequence, which makes them an ideal building block for constructing complex dynamic networks that can mimic those in living systems. This review briefly introduces nucleic acid-based dynamic networks that can mimic natural signaling dynamic processes. We summarize how the nucleic acid-based dynamic networks are utilized to mimic relatively simple biological transformations, such as feedback and feedforward, which act as sub-networks to produce complex dynamic behaviors upon collective integration. We also emphasize the recent development of far-from-equilibrium networks, which are designed for converting the spatiotemporal signal and coupling with the downstream systems to achieve different functionalities and applications, including temporary nanostructure and patterns, programmed catalysis, and more, using nucleic acid-based dynamic networks. We also address the challenges of developing nucleic acid-based dynamic networks by directed evolution, operating complex networks under confinement conditions, and integrating multiplex networks into cell-like containments aiming to create protocells with living features.

Self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals confined to square capillaries.

Biological systems exploit restricted degrees of freedom to drive self-assembly of nano- and microarchitectures. Simplified systems, such as colloidal nanoparticles that behave as lyotropic liquid crystalline mesophases in confined geometric spaces, may be used to mimic biological structures. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are colloidally stable nanoparticles that self-assemble into chiral nematic (ChN) liquid crystalline mesophases. To date, the self-assembly of ChN mesophases of CNCs has been studied under confinement conditions within curved surfaces or under drying conditions that impose curvatures that can be exploited to control ChN ordering; however, their self-assembly has not been investigated in geometries with square cross-sections under static conditions. Here, we show that because of surface anchoring on perpendicular surfaces, the ChN CNC phase is unable to bend with the 90° angle of the square capillary under increasing confinement. Instead, the ChN phase forms radial layers in the shape of concentric squircle shells. With increasing layer distance from the capillary wall, the squircles transition into concentric cylinder shells. In larger capillaries, the radial shell layers appear as a continuous spiral pattern that engulfs fragmented ChN pseudolayers, a defect to accommodate the cylindrical confinement of the mesophase. These results are useful for understanding the fundamentals of self-assembling systems and development of new technologies.

Propagation Characteristics of Ultrasonic Guided Waves in Grouted Rockbolt Systems with Bond Defects under Different Confining Conditions

A rockbolt acting in the rock mass is subjected to the combined action of the pull-out load and confining pressure, and the bond quality of the rockbolt directly affects the stability of the roadway and cavern. Therefore, in this study, confining pressure and pull-out load are applied to grouted rockbolt systems with bond defects by a numerical simulation method, and the rockbolt is detected by ultrasonic guided waves to study the propagation law of ultrasonic guided waves in defective rockbolt systems and the bond quality of rockbolts under the combined action of pull-out load and confining pressure. The numerical simulation results show that the length and location of bond defects can be detected by ultrasonic guided waves under the combined action of pull-out load and confining pressure. Under no pull-out load, with increasing confining pressure, the low-frequency part of the guided wave frequency in the rockbolt increases, the high-frequency part decreases, the weakening effect of the confining pressure on the guided wave propagation law increases, and the bond quality of the rockbolt increases. The existence of defects cannot change the strengthening effect of the confining pressure on the guided wave propagation law under the same pull-out load or the weakening effect of the pull-out load on the guided wave propagation law under the same confining pressure.

Experimental Setup for Measuring p-y Curves of Rigid Walls Supporting Granular Backfill

Abstract In the context of performance-based design, there is interest in quantifying the relationship between the lateral earth pressure and the wall displacement using the concept of p-y curves. Although p-y curves have been extensively used in the analysis of piles, their use in the analysis of rigid walls is still in its early stages. There is a need for realistic and simplified models that could describe the p-y relationship for rigid walls to be used as input in robust soil-structure-interaction analyses. This paper aims at studying the development of lateral stresses behind rigid walls in the context of p-y curves using a laboratory-scale retaining wall prototype that is 0.5 m wide, 1.2 m high, and 2.6 m long. The main objective is to provide insight on the p-y response behind rigid walls under static and cyclic loading conditions for different backfill densities and confinement conditions. Results indicate that the proposed experimental setup yields repeatable and consistent measurements of the p-y response, which was found to be highly nonlinear and not adequately represented by the simple elastic-perfectly plastic model that was adopted in the literature in modeling soil-structure interaction between basement walls and sand backfill. Unique results from the cyclic tests indicated a process of densification that dominated the volumetric tendency of the sand during cyclic loading, with the p-y curves showing a significant increase in stiffness and maximum pressure at the passive side after 10 loading cycles. The gradual increase in stiffness decreased with the number of cycles until convergence in the passive stiffness was observed after 9 to 10 cycles.

О сущности пенитенциарного надзора прокуратуры

The penitentiary supervision by the prosecutor's office is an independent type of prosecutor activity implemented within the framework of various branches and activities of the national prosecutor's office. This supervision is enforced in the following areas: prosecutor's supervision over the legality of penal isolation; the prosecutor's participation in the judicial consideration of issues related to the execution of the sentence; the prosecutor's participation in the judicial review and resolution of complaints against the actions and acts of administrations of penal bodies and institutions, as well as applications from prisoners for compensation for violations of conditions of detention or confinement (in accordance with Article 121 of the Penal Code of the Russian Federation and Article 171 of the Federal Law of the Russian Federation On the Detention of Persons Suspected and Accused of Committing Crimes); prosecutor's activities on protecting human rights in places of penal isolation. The penitentiary supervision of the prosecutor's office is mainly enforced through the following branches: supervision over the enforcement of laws in general; supervision over the enforcement of laws by administrations of bodies and institutions that execute penalties and coercive measures imposed by the court, by administrations of detention facilities. Within each of these branches, the supervision is restricted by the appropriate limits on the circle of supervised persons, acts, and types of supervised activities. The legal means of the penitentiary supervision by the prosecutor's office are similar to the legal means of prosecutor's supervision and, in relation to the sphere of forced isolation from society, are fixed in both the Law on the Prosecutor's Office and other special laws. In this regard, the legal regulation of the implementation of legal means of penitentiary supervision takes place at the basic (general supervision) and special (branch) levels: Articles 33 and 34 of the Law on the Prosecutor's Office separately establish special legal means or reveal the specifics of the implementation of the general powers of the prosecutor in the exercise of supervision over the legality of involuntary isolation. The main specificity of the implementation of the legal means of the prosecutor's penitentiary supervision lies in its proactive nature and the prosecutor's authority and administration powers.

Regulation of droplet size and flow regime by geometrical confinement in a microfluidic flow-focusing device

We have developed a coupled level set and volume of fluid-based computational fluid dynamics model to analyze the droplet formation mechanism in a square flow-focusing microchannel. We demonstrate a flexible manipulation of droplet formation and flow regime based on the modified flow-focusing microchannel with a constricted orifice. Furthermore, we have systematically studied the influence of geometrical confinement, flow rate, and interfacial tension on the droplet formation regime, length, volume, velocity, and shape. Three different flow regimes, namely squeezing, dripping, and jetting, are observed, and the flow regime maps are formulated based on the Reynolds and capillary numbers. After an extensive numerical investigation, we described the boundaries between the different regimes. Droplet shape is also quantified based on the deformation index value. Plug-shaped droplets are observed in the squeezing regime, and near spherical droplets are found in the dripping and jetting regimes. Our study provides insights into the transition of a regime under various geometrical confinement and fluid properties. The results reveal that the modified flow-focusing microchannel can substantially enhance dripping while decreasing the squeezing regime, which is of paramount importance from the standpoint of producing high throughput stable and monodisperse microdroplets. Eventually, this work emphasizes the importance of geometrical confinement, fluid properties, and flow conditions on the droplet formation process in a flow-focusing microchannel that can effectively provide helpful guidelines on the design and operations of such droplet-based microfluidic systems.

A estratégia de resposta da Nova Zelândia à COVID-19: lições aprendidas

Abstract This study analyzed the characteristics of the health system, surveillance system, and the measures adopted to face the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand between March 2020 and December 2021. 29 fully read articles from an integrative literature review were included, and the websites of the WHO, the World Bank, the “Stringency Index” of “ourworldindata” were consulted to collect data on the socio-demographic situation, economic indicators of the country, as well as tests, deaths, vaccines and new cases. The data were imported in CSV format and the graphs elaborated in RStudio software. The evidence points out that New Zealand can be considered a success story regarding the nationwide response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it being one of the countries with the lowest number of deaths from the disease in the world. This success was the result of a health system organization with fast internal action, high testing capacity, and contact tracing, without causing the collapse of the health system. In turn, it also pointed out that the population adhered to the confinement conditions, and faithfully followed the authorities’ instructions, even with low community participation in government decisions. Important lessons can be learnt leading to useful recommendations for a potential new epidemic with an unknown virus or similar.

Nanospheres with Patches Arranged in Polyhedrons from Self-Assembly of Solution-State Diblock Copolymers under Spherical Confinement

Self-assembly of sphere-forming solution-state amphiphilic diblock copolymers under spherical nanopore confinement is investigated using a simulated annealing technique. For two types of cases of different pore–surface/copolymer interactions, sequences of self-assembled patchy nanospheres are obtained, and phase diagrams are constructed. Self-assembled patchy nanospheres with 1–21 solvophobic domains are observed. The outermost solvophobic domains (patches) are packed into various polyhedrons when their number is larger than 3, where three Platonic solids of a regular tetrahedron, an octahedron, and an icosahedron and seven Johnson solids of J12, J13, J17, J50, J51, J86, and J87 are identified. In addition, another Johnson solid of J84 is identified in a structure with two categories of B-domains. These polyhedrons have all or most of their faces in a triangular shape, and hence, they are closer to spherical in shape, which may relieve the chain stretching. Nanospheres with 1, 4, 6, 9, and 12 numbers of patches occur in relatively large windows in the phase diagrams of both types of cases. In one of the two types of cases, all nanospheres with any number of 1–14 patches occur in the phase diagram, whereas in the other type of cases, nanospheres with 2, 3, 5, 11, and 13 numbers of patches are absent in the phase diagram. Furthermore, at a given pore size, the number of patches changes nonmonotonically or is unchanged with an increase in the strength of the pore–surface/copolymer interactions for one type or the other type of case, respectively. Quantitative calculations are performed to elucidate mechanisms of the window size in the phase diagrams of nanospheres with different numbers of patches and structure details. All the observed phase behaviors can be well-explained based on the structure frustration, the conclusion being that the systems tend to avoid forming polyhedral structures with uneven distribution of solvophobic domains, and the differences between the two types of cases. Our results may provide a fundamental understanding of the relationship among confinement conditions, solvent conditions, and self-assembled structures.