Preface of special issue on laser scanning

A laser is a spatially coherent light that can travel through space with very little diffraction [...

Monolayer Nitrides Doped with Transition Metals as Efficient Catalysts for Water Oxidation: The Singular Role of Nickel

Exploration of precious-metal-free catalysts for water splitting is of great importance in developing renewable energy conversion and storage technologies. In this paper, on the basis of density functional theory calculations, we reveal the link between the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activities and the electronic properties of pure and first-row transition-metal (TM)-doped AlN and GaN two-dimensional monolayers. We find that Ni-doped layers are singularly appealing because they lead to a low overpotential (0.4 V). Early TM dopants are not suited for the OER because they bind the intermediate species OH or O too strongly, which leads to very large overpotentials, or no OER activity at all. The late TM dopants Cu and Zn show less or no OER activity as they bind the intermediate species too weakly. Although in many cases the overpotential can be traced back to an OOH intermediate species being adsorbed too weakly compared to an OH species, the Ni dopant breaks this rule by stabilizing the OOH adsorbant. The stabilization can be correlated with a switch from a high-spin to a low-spin state of the dopant atom. This ability to change spin states offers an exciting ingredient for the design of OER catalysts.</p

Robert B. Vance v. Paul V. Fordham : Appellant\u27s Reply Brief

Appeal from the Judgment of the Third Judicial District Court for Salt Lake County. Honorable Christine M. Durham, Judge affirming the order of the Department of Registration

Aberrant posterior cingulate connectivity classify first-episode schizophrenia from controls: A machine learning study

Background Posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is a key aspect of the default mode network (DMN). Aberrant PCC functional connectivity (FC) is implicated in schizophrenia, but the potential for PCC related changes as biological classifier of schizophrenia has not yet been evaluated. Methods We conducted a data-driven approach using resting-state functional MRI data to explore differences in PCC-based region- and voxel-wise FC patterns, to distinguish between patients with first-episode schizophrenia (FES) and demographically matched healthy controls (HC). Discriminative PCC FCs were selected via false discovery rate estimation. A gradient boosting classifier was trained and validated based on 100 FES vs. 93 HC. Subsequently, classification models were tested in an independent dataset of 87 FES patients and 80 HC using resting-state data acquired on a different MRI scanner. Results Patients with FES had reduced connectivity between PCC and frontal areas, left parahippocampal regions, left anterior cingulate cortex, and right inferior parietal lobule, but hyperconnectivity with left lateral temporal regions. Predictive voxel-wise clusters were similar to region-wise selected brain areas functionally connected with PCC in relation to discriminating FES from HC subject categories. Region-wise analysis of FCs yielded a relatively high predictive level for schizophrenia, with an average accuracy of 72.28% in the independent samples, while selected voxel-wise connectivity yielded an accuracy of 68.72%. Conclusion FES exhibited a pattern of both increased and decreased PCC-based connectivity, but was related to predominant hypoconnectivity between PCC and brain areas associated with DMN, that may be a useful differential feature revealing underpinnings of neuropathophysiology for schizophrenia

Implementing topological quantum manipulation with superconducting circuits

A two-component fermion model with conventional two-body interactions was recently shown to have anyonic excitations. We here propose a scheme to physically implement this model by transforming each chain of two two-component fermions to the two capacitively coupled chains of superconducting devices. In particular, we elaborate how to achieve the wanted operations to create and manipulate the topological quantum states, providing an experimentally feasible scenario to access the topological memory and to build the anyonic interferometry.Comment: 4 pages with 3 figures; V2: published version with minor updation

Exogenous carbon turnover within the soil food web strengthens soil carbon sequestration through microbial necromass accumulation

Exogenous carbon turnover within soil food web is important in determining the trade-offs between soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and carbon emission. However, it remains largely unknown how soil food web influences carbon sequestration through mediating the dual roles of microbes as decomposers and contributors, hindering our ability to develop policies for soil carbon management. Here, we conducted a 13C-labeled straw experiment to demonstrate how soil food web regulated the residing microbes to influence the soil carbon transformation and stabilization process after 11 years of no-tillage. Our work demonstrated that soil fauna, as a “temporary storage container,” indirectly influenced the SOC transformation processes and mediated the SOC sequestration through feeding on soil microbes. Soil biota communities acted as both drivers of and contributors to SOC cycling, with 32.0% of exogenous carbon being stabilizing in the form of microbial necromass as “new” carbon. Additionally, the proportion of mineral-associated organic carbon and particulate organic carbon showed that the “renewal effect” driven by the soil food web promoted the SOC to be more stable. Our study clearly illustrated that soil food web regulated the turnover of exogenous carbon inputs by and mediated soil carbon sequestration through microbial necromass accumulation

Paracrine mechanisms of Mesenchymal Stem cell-based therapy: Current status and perspectives.

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