Kelvin Probe Microscopy Studies of Epitaxial Graphene on SiC(0001)

Epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) presents a promising platform for device applications and fundamental investigations. Graphene growth on SiC(0001) can produce consistent monolayer thickness on terraces and good electronic properties. In exfoliated graphene on SiO2, random charged impurities in the SiO2 surface are thought to be the dominant scatterers, explaining the observed transport properties as well as the spatial charge inhomogeneity seen in scanned-probe experiments. In contrast, the scattering mechanisms and charge distribution in epitaxial graphene remain relatively unexplored. Here I use Kelvin probe microscopy (KPM) in ambient and UHV conditions to directly measure the surface potential of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001). Ambient-environment KPM on graphene/SiC(0001) shows surface potential variations of only 12 meV. Taken together with transport measurements, the data suggest that the graphene samples in ambient are in the low-doped regime, near the minimum conductivity of roughly 4e2/h. I am also able to use UHV KPM of graphene/ SiC(0001) to identify the discrete surface potentials of monolayer and bilayer graphene as well as the insulating interfacial carbon layer and bare SiC, correlated with scanning electron micrographs of the same location. The surface potential differences between monolayer and bilayer graphene and between IFL and monolayer graphene are both suggestive of low doping (≤1012 cm-2). The surface potentials of monolayer and bilayer graphene are relatively smooth, while the IFL and bare SiC, in contrast, showed larger variations in surface potential suggesting the presence of unscreened charged impurities present on the IFL that are later screened by the overgrown graphene. I model the potential variations for unscreened and graphene-screened charged impurities using the self-consistent theory of graphene developed by Adam et al. The results show that although surface potential variations are, as expected, larger in the IFL than in graphene, both surfaces display surface potential variations 10-40 times smaller than predicted by theory. While ambient electronic transport data and surface potential steps suggest our samples are only lightly doped (≤1012 cm-2), in a regime dominated by electron-hole puddles, we do not observe these puddles in UHV. The absence of puddles in UHV leaves the source of doping in these samples an open question

On the prevalence of bridged macrocyclic pyrroloindolines formed in regiodivergent alkylations of tryptophan.

A Friedel-Crafts alkylation is described that efficiently transforms tryptophan-containing peptides into macrocycles of varying ring connectivity. Factors are surveyed that influence the distribution of regioisomers, with a focus on indole C3-alkylations leading to bridged endo-pyrroloindolines. We probe the stability and stereochemistry of these pyrroloindolines, study their rearrangement to C2-linked indolic macrocycles, and demonstrate a scalable, stereoselective synthesis of this compound class. Placing the macrocyclization in sequence with further template-initiated annulation leads to extraordinary polycyclic products and further demonstrates the potential for this chemistry to drive novel peptidomimetic lead discovery programs

Acute alcohol administration dampens central extended amygdala reactivity.

Alcohol use is common, imposes a staggering burden on public health, and often resists treatment. The central extended amygdala (EAc)-including the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST) and the central nucleus of the amygdala (Ce)-plays a key role in prominent neuroscientific models of alcohol drinking, but the relevance of these regions to acute alcohol consumption in humans remains poorly understood. Using a single-blind, randomized-groups design, multiband fMRI data were acquired from 49 social drinkers while they performed a well-established emotional faces paradigm after consuming either alcohol or placebo. Relative to placebo, alcohol significantly dampened reactivity to emotional faces in the BST. To rigorously assess potential regional differences in activation, data were extracted from unbiased, anatomically predefined regions of interest. Analyses revealed similar levels of dampening in the BST and Ce. In short, alcohol transiently reduces reactivity to emotional faces and it does so similarly across the two major divisions of the human EAc. These observations reinforce the translational relevance of addiction models derived from preclinical work in rodents and provide new insights into the neural systems most relevant to the consumption of alcohol and to the initial development of alcohol abuse in humans

Author Correction: High energy barriers for edge dislocation motion in body-centered cubic high entropy alloys (npj Computational Materials, (2021), 7, 1, (112), 10.1038/s41524-021-00577-7)

The original version of this Article contained an error in the Acknowledgements: ‘Project 200021_18198/1’ should have read ‘Project 200021_181987/1’. This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article

High energy barriers for edge dislocation motion in body-centered cubic high entropy alloys

Recent theory proposes that edge dislocations in random body-centered cubic (BCC) high entropy alloys have high barriers for motion, conveying high strengths up to high temperatures. Here, the energy barriers for edge motion are computed for two model alloys, NbTaV and MoNbTaW as represented by interatomic potentials, using the Nudged Elastic Band method and compared to theoretical predictions. The average magnitude of the barriers and the average spacing of the barriers along the glide direction agree well with the analytical theory, with no adjustable parameters. The evolution of the barriers versus applied stress is modeled, and the mean strength is in reasonable agreement with the predicted zero-temperature strength. These findings validate the analytic theory. A reduced analytic model based on solute misfit volumes is then applied to Hf-Mo-Nb-Ta-Ti-Zr and Mo-Nb-Ta-Ti-V-W alloys, rationalizing the observed significant strength increases at room temperature and 1000 C-circle upon addition of solutes with large misfit into a base alloy. The analytic theory for edge motion is thus a powerful validated tool for guiding alloy selection

Bursts in a fiber bundle model with continuous damage

We study the constitutive behaviour, the damage process, and the properties of bursts in the continuous damage fiber bundle model introduced recently. Depending on its two parameters, the model provides various types of constitutive behaviours including also macroscopic plasticity. Analytic results are obtained to characterize the damage process along the plastic plateau under strain controlled loading, furthermore, for stress controlled experiments we develop a simulation technique and explore numerically the distribution of bursts of fiber breaks assuming infinite range of interaction. Simulations revealed that under certain conditions power law distribution of bursts arises with an exponent significantly different from the mean field exponent 5/2. A phase diagram of the model characterizing the possible burst distributions is constructed.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, APS style, submitted for publicatio

Skeletal muscle dysfunction is associated with derangements in mitochondrial bioenergetics (but not UCP3) in a rodent model of sepsis

Muscle dysfunction is a common feature of severe sepsis and multi-organ failure. Recent evidence implicates bioenergetic dysfunction and oxidative damage as important underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. Increased abundance of uncoupling protein-3 (UCP-3) in sepsis suggests increased mitochondrial proton leak, which may reduce mitochondrial coupling efficiency but limit ROS production. Using a murine model, we examined metabolic, cardiovascular and skeletal muscle contractile changes following induction of peritoneal sepsis in wild-type and Ucp3(-/-) mice. Mitochondrial membrane potential (Δψm) was measured using two-photon microscopy in living diaphragm, and contractile function was measured in diaphragm muscle strips. The kinetic relationship between membrane potential and oxygen consumption was determined using a modular kinetic approach in isolated mitochondria. Sepsis was associated with significant whole body metabolic suppression, hypothermia and cardiovascular dysfunction. Maximal force generation was reduced and fatigue accelerated in ex vivo diaphragm muscle strips from septic mice. Mitochondrial membrane potential was lower in the isolated diaphragm from septic mice despite normal substrate oxidation kinetics and proton leak in skeletal muscle mitochondria. Even though wild-type mice exhibited an absolute 26 ± 6% higher UCP-3 protein abundance at 24 hours, no differences were seen in whole animal or diaphragm physiology, nor in survival rates, between wild-type and Ucp3(-/-) mice. In conclusion, this murine sepsis model shows a hypometabolic phenotype with evidence of significant cardiovascular and muscle dysfunction. This was associated with lower Δψm and alterations in mitochondrial ATP turnover and phosphorylation pathway. However, UCP-3 does not play an important functional role, despite its upregulation