Exploring lithium ion interactions in graphite electrodes through non-equilibrium molecular dynamics and density functional theory.

In molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, selecting an appropriate potential function is a crucial element for accurately simulating the kinetic properties of lithium ion intercalation, storage, and diffusion in graphite systems. This work employed a combination of non-equilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) and density-functional theory (DFT) for simulation and analysis. The findings indicate that the AIREBO potential function precisely describes the motion of ordered lithium ions between graphite layers, consistent with the models proposed by Rüdorff and Hofmann (R-H) and Daumas and Hérold (D-H).

Functional analysis of a viral promoter from a strawberry vein banding virus isolate from China.

Background: Promoters are important factors affecting gene expression in cells. The driven activities of viral promoters were generally assessed to screen available promoters for transgenic and research and biotech industries. In this study, we cloned a full-length promoter from a Chinese isolate of strawberry vein banding virus (SVBV) and produced several deletion mutants for evaluation of applications in production of reporter proteins in stable transgenic plants.