Individuals’ preference on reading pathways influences the involvement of neural pathways in phonological learning

IntroductionExisting behavioral and neuroimaging studies revealed inter-individual variability in the selection of the two phonological routes in word reading. However, it is not clear how individuals’ preferred reading pathways/strategies modulate the involvement of a certain brain region for phonological learning in a new language, and consequently affect their behavioral performance on phonological access.MethodsTo address this question, the present study recruited a group of native Chinese speakers to learn two sets of artificial language characters, respectively, in addressed-phonology training (i.e., whole-word mapping) and assembled-phonology training conditions (i.e., grapheme-to-phoneme mapping).ResultsBehavioral results showed that the more lexical pathways participants preferred, the better they performed on newly-acquired addressed characters relative to assembled characters. More importantly, neuroimaging results showed that participants who preferred lexical pathway in phonological access show less involvement of brain regions for addressed phonology (e.g., the bilateral orbitofrontal cortex and right pars triangularis) in the processing of newly-acquired addressed characters.ConclusionThese results indicated that phonological access via the preferred pathway required less neural resources to achieve better behavioral performance. These above results provide direct neuroimaging evidence for the influence of reading pathway preference on phonological learning

Growth of millimeter-sized high-quality CuFeSe2_2 single crystals by the molten salt method and study of their semiconducting behavior

An eutectic AlCl$_3$/KCl molten salt method in a horizontal configuration was employed to grow millimeter-sized and composition homogeneous CuFeSe$_2$ single crystals due to the continuous growth process in a temperature gradient induced solution convection. The typical as-grown CuFeSe$_2$ single crystals in cubic forms are nearly 1.6$\times$1.2$\times$1.0 mm3 in size. The chemical composition and homogeneity of the crystals was examined by both inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy and energy dispersive spectrometer with Cu:Fe:Se = 0.96:1.00:1.99 consistent with the stoichiometric composition of CuFeSe$_2$. The magnetic measurements suggest a ferrimagnetic or weak ferromagnetic transition below T$_C$ = 146 K and the resistivity reveals a semiconducting behavior and an abrupt increase below T$_C$

Superconductivity in a new layered cobalt oxychalcogenide Na6_{6}Co3_{3}Se6_{6}O3_{3} with a 3d5d^{5} triangular lattice

Unconventional superconductivity in bulk materials under ambient pressure is extremely rare among the 3$d$ transition-metal compounds outside the layered cuprates and iron-based family. It is predominantly linked to highly anisotropic electronic properties and quasi-two-dimensional (2D) Fermi surfaces. To date, the only known example of the Co-based exotic superconductor was the hydrated layered cobaltate, Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}\cdot$ yH$_{2}$O, and its superconductivity is realized in the vicinity of a spin-1/2 Mott state. However, the nature of the superconductivity in these materials is still an active subject of debate, and therefore, finding new class of superconductors will help unravel the mysteries of their unconventional superconductivity. Here we report the discovery of unconventional superconductivity at $\sim$ 6.3 K in our newly synthesized layered compound Na$_{6}$Co$_{3}$Se$_{6}$O$_{3}$, in which the edge-shared CoSe$_{6}$ octahedra form [CoSe$_{2}$] layers with a perfect triangular lattice of Co ions. It is the first 3$d$ transition-metal oxychalcogenide superconductor with distinct structural and chemical characteristics. Despite its relatively low $T_{c}$, material exhibits extremely high superconducting upper critical fields, $\mu_{0}H_{c2}(0)$, which far exceeds the Pauli paramagnetic limit by a factor of 3 - 4. First-principles calculations show that Na$_{6}$Co$_{3}$Se$_{6}$O$_{3}$ is a rare example of negative charge transfer superconductor. This new cobalt oxychalcogenide with a geometrical frustration among Co spins, shows great potential as a highly appealing candidate for the realization of high-$T_{c}$ and/or unconventional superconductivity beyond the well-established Cu- and Fe-based superconductor families, and opened a new field in physics and chemistry of low-dimensional superconductors

The intercalation of 1,10-phenanthroline into layered NiPS3 via iron dopant seeding

Using 2% percent of iron dopants as reaction active sites yields a series of single crystals of 1,10-phenanthroline intercalated NiPS3, via solution reaction with aniline chloride, not possible by direct reaction. Experimental magnetic susceptibility measurements demonstrate that 1,10-phenanthroline intercalation suppresses the anti-ferromagnetism ordering at around 150 K in Fe0.02Ni0.98PS3, and gives rise to a ferrimagnetic phase transition at the temperature around 75 K. A intercalation mechanism is proposed for the reaction, and this dopant seeding method provides a new approach for intercalation into layered materials