Studying the cation dependence of CO2 reduction intermediates at Cu by in-situ VSFG spectroscopy

The nature of the electrolyte cation is known to have a significant impact on electrochemical reduction of CO2 at catalyst|electrolyte interfaces. An understanding of the underlying mechanism responsible for catalytic...</jats:p

Nature vs. Stress: Investigating the Use of Biophilia in Non-Violent Exploration Games to Reduce Stress

Games hold the potential to help many address health-related issues such as chronic stress. We investigated the use of biophilia, an affective response to nature grounded in the psychology literature, as indirect physiological input for biofeedback games. We designed and developed a non-violent exploration game, and conducted an empirical study that examined affective and physiological responses to gameplay in virtual nature and urban settings. Our results did not identify a difference in stress levels experienced by players between these two settings, but point to improved attention when playing in nature settings. We discuss implications of these findings, and discuss both difficulties in and potential future strategies for applying biophilia to the design of biofeedback games

<b>Monitoring Interfacial Electric Fields at a Hematite Electrode During Water Oxidation </b>

To understand the mechanisms of a water oxidation on materials such as hematite it is important that accurate measurements and models of the interfacial fields at the semiconductor liquid junction...</jats:p

Photocatalytic overall water splitting under visible light enabled by a particulate conjugated polymer loaded with iridium

Polymer photocatalysts have received growing attention in recent years for photocatalytic hydrogen production from water. Most studies report hydrogen production with sacrificial electron donors, which is unsuitable for large-scale hydrogen energy production. Here we show that the palladium/iridium oxide-loaded homopolymer of dibenzo[b,d]thiophene sulfone (P10) facilitates overall water splitting to produce stoichiometric amounts of H2 and O2 for an extended period (>60 hours) after the system stabilized. These results demonstrate that conjugated polymers can act as single component photocatalytic systems for overall water splitting when loaded with suitable co-catalysts, albeit currently with low activities. Transient spectroscopy shows that the IrO2 co-catalyst plays an important role in the generation of the charge separated state required for water splitting, with evidence for fast hole transfer to the co-catalyst

Scaling up peer-led community-based differentiated support for adolescents living with HIV: keeping the needs of youth peer supporters in mind to sustain success.

INTRODUCTION: Low rates of viral suppression among adolescents living with HIV (ALHIV) indicate that more effective support is urgently required at scale. The provision of peer support has generated considerable enthusiasm because it has the potential to ameliorate the complex social and relational challenges which underpin suboptimal adherence. Little is known about the impact on young peer supporters themselves, which is the focus of this paper. METHODS: We present qualitative findings from the Zvandiri trial investigating the impact of a peer support intervention on the viral load for beneficiaries (ALHIV, aged 13 to 19 years) in Zimbabwe. The Zvandiri peer supporters aged 18 to 24 years, known as community adolescent treatment supporters (CATS), are themselves living with HIV. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted in late 2018 with 17 CATS exploring their experiences of delivering peer support and their own support needs. Interviews were analysed iteratively using thematic analysis. RESULTS: The CATS reported that being peer supporters improved their own adherence behaviour and contributed to an improved sense of self-worth. The social connections between the CATS were a source of comfort and enabled them to develop skills to manage the challenging aspects of their work. Two substantial challenges were identified. First, their work may reveal their HIV status. Second, managing the emotional labour of this caring work; given how commonly the complexity of the beneficiaries' needs mirrored the circumstances of their own difficult lives. Both challenges were ameliorated by the support the CATS provided to each other and ongoing supervision from the adult mentor. There was variation in whether they felt their roles were appropriately valued through the remuneration they received and within the health system. There was a consensus that their experience meant that they would graduate from being a CATS with transferable skills that could enhance their employability. CONCLUSIONS: Their experiences illustrate the advantages and opportunities of being a CATS. To minimize potential harms, it is vital to ensure that they feel valued in their role, which can be demonstrated by the provision of appropriate remuneration, recognition and respect, and that there is continued investment in ongoing support through ongoing training and mentoring

Potential Dependent Reorientation Controlling Activity of a Molecular Electrocatalyst.

The activity of molecular electrocatalysts depends on the interplay of electrolyte composition near the electrode surface, the composition and morphology of the electrode surface, and the electric field at the electrode-electrolyte interface. This interplay is challenging to study and often overlooked when assessing molecular catalyst activity. Here, we use surface specific vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy to study the solvent and potential dependent activation of Mo(bpy)(CO)4, a CO2 reduction catalyst, at a polycrystalline Au electrode. We find that the parent complex undergoes potential dependent reorientation at the electrode surface when a small amount of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) is present. This preactivates the complex, resulting in greater yields at less negative potentials, of the active electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction

A TALEN Genome-Editing System for Generating Human Stem Cell-Based Disease Models

SummaryTranscription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) are a new class of engineered nucleases that are easier to design to cleave at desired sites in a genome than previous types of nucleases. We report here the use of TALENs to rapidly and efficiently generate mutant alleles of 15 genes in cultured somatic cells or human pluripotent stem cells, the latter for which we differentiated both the targeted lines and isogenic control lines into various metabolic cell types. We demonstrate cell-autonomous phenotypes directly linked to disease—dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, hypoglycemia, lipodystrophy, motor-neuron death, and hepatitis C infection. We found little evidence of TALEN off-target effects, but each clonal line nevertheless harbors a significant number of unique mutations. Given the speed and ease with which we were able to derive and characterize these cell lines, we anticipate TALEN-mediated genome editing of human cells becoming a mainstay for the investigation of human biology and disease