MeSi(CH2SnRO)3 (R = Ph, Me3SiCH2): Building blocks for triangular-shaped diorganotin oxide macrocycles

The syntheses of the novel silicon-bridged tris(tetraorganotin) compounds MeSi(CH2SnPh2R)3 (2, R=Ph; 5, R=Me3SiCH2) and their halogen-substituted derivatives MeSi(CH2SnPh(3−n)In)3 (3, n=1; 4, n=2) and MeSi(CH2SnI2R)3 (6, R=Me3SiCH2) are reported. The reaction of compound 4 with di-t-butyltin oxide (t-Bu2SnO)3 gives the oktokaideka-nuclear (18-nuclear) molecular diorganotin oxide [MeSi(CH2SnPhO)3]6 (7) while the reaction of 6 with sodium hydroxide, NaOH, provides the trikonta-nuclear (30-nuclear) molecular diorganotin oxide [MeSi(CH2SnRO)3]10 (8, R=Me3SiCH2). Both 7 and 8 show belt-like ladder-type macrocyclic structures and are by far the biggest molecular diorganotin oxides reported to date. The compounds have been characterized by elemental analyses, electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), NMR spectroscopy, 1H DOSY NMR spectroscopy (7), IR spectroscopy (7, 8), and single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis (2, 7, 8)

GMI Instrument Spin Balance Method, Optimization, Calibration, and Test

The Global Microwave Imager (GMI) instrument must spin at a constant rate of 32 rpm continuously for the 3 year mission life. Therefore, GMI must be very precisely balanced about the spin axis and CG to maintain stable scan pointing and to minimize disturbances imparted to the spacecraft and attitude control on-orbit. The GMI instrument is part of the core Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) spacecraft and is used to make calibrated radiometric measurements at multiple microwave frequencies and polarizations. The GPM mission is an international effort managed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to improve climate, weather, and hydro-meteorological predictions through more accurate and frequent precipitation measurements. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation (BATC) was selected by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to design, build, and test the GMI instrument. The GMI design has to meet a challenging set of spin balance requirements and had to be brought into simultaneous static and dynamic spin balance after the entire instrument was already assembled and before environmental tests began. The focus of this contribution is on the analytical and test activities undertaken to meet the challenging spin balance requirements of the GMI instrument. The novel process of measuring the residual static and dynamic imbalances with a very high level of accuracy and precision is presented together with the prediction of the optimal balance masses and their locations

Tuning trion binding energy and oscillator strength in a laterally finite 2D system: CdSe nanoplatelets as a model system for trion properties

We present a theoretical study combined with experimental validations demonstrating that CdSe nanoplatelets are a model system to investigate the tunability of trions and excitons in laterally finite 2D semiconductors. Our results show that the trion binding energy can be tuned from 36 meV to 18 meV with the lateral size and decreasing aspect ratio, while the oscillator strength ratio of trions to excitons decreases. In contrast to conventional quantum dots, the trion oscillator strength in a nanoplatelet at low temperature is smaller than that of the exciton. The trion and exciton Bohr radii become lateral size tunable, e.g. from ∼3.5 to 4.8 nm for the trion. We show that dielectric screening has strong impact on these properties. By theoretical modeling of transition energies, binding energies and oscillator strength of trions and excitons and comparison with experimental findings, we demonstrate that these properties are lateral size and aspect ratio tunable and can be engineered by dielectric confinement, allowing to suppress e.g. detrimental trion emission in devices. Our results strongly impact further in-depth studies, as the demonstrated lateral size tunable trion and exciton manifold is expected to influence properties like gain mechanisms, lasing, quantum efficiency and transport even at room temperature due to the high and tunable trion binding energies.EC/H2020/714876/EU/Photonics in Flatland: Band Structure Engineering of 2D Excitons in Fluorescent Colloidal Nanomaterials/PHOCONATU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel - 202

Insulating behavior in ultra-thin bismuth selenide field effect transistors

Ultrathin (~3 quintuple layer) field-effect transistors (FETs) of topological insulator Bi2Se3 are prepared by mechanical exfoliation on 300nm SiO2/Si susbtrates. Temperature- and gate-voltage dependent conductance measurements show that ultrathin Bi2Se3 FETs are n-type, and have a clear OFF state at negative gate voltage, with activated temperature-dependent conductance and energy barriers up to 250 meV

The optical absorption in indirect semiconductor to semimetal PtSe2 arises from direct transitions

$\rm{PtSe_2}$ is a van der Waals material transiting from an indirect semiconductor to a semimetal with increasing thickness. Its absorption threshold has been conjectured to originate from interband indirect transitions. By quantitative comparison between wideband optical absorption ($0.8 - 3.0\,\rm{eV}$) of high-quality exfoliated crystals and ab-initio simulations, we prove instead that the optical absorption arises only from direct transitions. This understanding allows us to shed new light on the semiconductor to semimetal transition and to explore the effect of stacking and excitons on optical absorption

Effects of countdown displays in public transport route choice under severe overcrowding

The paper presents a route choice model for dynamic assignment in congested, i.e. overcrowded, transit networks where it is assumed that passengers are supported with real-time information on carrier arrivals at stops. If the stop layout is such that passenger congestion results in First-In-First-Out (FIFO) queues, a new formulation is devised for calculating waiting times, total travel times and route splits. Numerical results for a simple example network show the effect of information on route choice when heavy congestion is observed. While the provision of information does not lead to a remarkable decrease in total travel time, with the exception of some particular instances, it changes the travel behaviour of passengers that seem to be more averse to queuing at later stages of their journey and, thus, prefer to interchange at less congested stations

Global respiratory syncytial virus–related infant community deaths

Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of pediatric death, with >99% of mortality occurring in low- and lower middle-income countries. At least half of RSV-related deaths are estimated to occur in the community, but clinical characteristics of this group of children remain poorly characterized. Methods The RSV Global Online Mortality Database (RSV GOLD), a global registry of under-5 children who have died with RSV-related illness, describes clinical characteristics of children dying of RSV through global data sharing. RSV GOLD acts as a collaborative platform for global deaths, including community mortality studies described in this supplement. We aimed to compare the age distribution of infant deaths <6 months occurring in the community with in-hospital. Results We studied 829 RSV-related deaths <1 year of age from 38 developing countries, including 166 community deaths from 12 countries. There were 629 deaths that occurred <6 months, of which 156 (25%) occurred in the community. Among infants who died before 6 months of age, median age at death in the community (1.5 months; IQR: 0.8−3.3) was lower than in-hospital (2.4 months; IQR: 1.5−4.0; P < .0001). The proportion of neonatal deaths was higher in the community (29%, 46/156) than in-hospital (12%, 57/473, P < 0.0001). Conclusions We observed that children in the community die at a younger age. We expect that maternal vaccination or immunoprophylaxis against RSV will have a larger impact on RSV-related mortality in the community than in-hospital. This case series of RSV-related community deaths, made possible through global data sharing, allowed us to assess the potential impact of future RSV vaccines

Tuning exciton diffusion, mobility and emission line width in CdSe nanoplatelets via lateral size

We investigate the lateral size tunability of the exciton diffusion coefficient and mobility in colloidal quantum wells by means of line width analysis and theoretical modeling. We show that the exciton diffusion coefficient and mobility in laterally finite 2D systems like CdSe nanoplatelets can be tuned via the lateral size and aspect ratio. The coupling to acoustic and optical phonons can be altered via the lateral size and aspect ratio of the platelets. Subsequently the exciton diffusion and mobility become tunable since these phonon scattering processes determine and limit the mobility. At 4 K the exciton mobility increases from ∼ 4 × 103 cm2 V−1 s−1 to more than 1.4 × 104 cm2 V−1 s−1 for large platelets, while there are weaker changes with size and the mobility is around 8 × 101 cm2 V−1 s−1 for large platelets at room temperature. In turn at 4 K the exciton diffusion coefficient increases with the lateral size from ∼ 1.3 cm2 s−1 to ∼ 5 cm2 s−1, while it is around half the value for large platelets at room temperature. Our experimental results are in good agreement with theoretical modeling, showing a lateral size and aspect ratio dependence. The findings open up the possibility for materials with tunable exciton mobility, diffusion or emission line width, but quasi constant transition energy. High exciton mobility is desirable e.g. for solar cells and allows efficient excitation harvesting and extraction.TU Berlin, Open-Access-Mittel – 202

A contractile and counterbalancing adhesion system controls the 3D shape of crawling cells

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