1,985 research outputs found
Correction to: Memristive Devices Based on Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Chalcogenides for Neuromorphic Computing
Crystal Facet Engineering of TiO2 Nanostructures for Enhancing Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting with BiVO4 Nanodots
Highlights
Two types of BiVO4/TiO2 heterostructure photoanodes comprising TiO2 nanorods (NRs) and TiO2 nanoflowers (NFs) with different (001) and (110) crystal facets, respectively, were designed.
The higher photoactivity of BiVO4/TiO2 NFs than BiVO4/TiO2 NRs was attributed to the improvement of charge separation by the TiO2 NFs.
The formation of type II band alignment between BiVO4 nanodots and TiO2 NFs expedited electron transport and reduced charge recombination.Abstract
Although bismuth vanadate (BiVO4) has been promising as photoanode material for photoelectrochemical water splitting, its charge recombination issue by short charge diffusion length has led to various studies about heterostructure photoanodes. As a hole blocking layer of BiVO4, titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been considered unsuitable because of its relatively positive valence band edge and low electrical conductivity. Herein, a crystal facet engineering of TiO2 nanostructures is proposed to control band structures for the hole blocking layer of BiVO4 nanodots. We design two types of TiO2 nanostructures, which are nanorods (NRs) and nanoflowers (NFs) with different (001) and (110) crystal facets, respectively, and fabricate BiVO4/TiO2 heterostructure photoanodes. The BiVO4/TiO2 NFs showed 4.8 times higher photocurrent density than the BiVO4/TiO2 NRs. Transient decay time analysis and time-resolved photoluminescence reveal the enhancement is attributed to the reduced charge recombination, which is originated from the formation of type II band alignment between BiVO4 nanodots and TiO2 NFs. This work provides not only new insights into the interplay between crystal facets and band structures but also important steps for the design of highly efficient photoelectrodes
Mathematically Gifted Adolescents Have Deficiencies in Social Valuation and Mentalization
Many mathematically gifted adolescents are characterized as being indolent, underachieving and unsuccessful despite their high cognitive ability. This is often due to difficulties with social and emotional development. However, research on social and emotional interactions in gifted adolescents has been limited. The purpose of this study was to observe differences in complex social strategic behaviors between gifted and average adolescents of the same age using the repeated Ultimatum Game. Twenty-two gifted adolescents and 24 average adolescents participated in the Ultimatum Game. Two adolescents participate in the game, one as a proposer and the other as a responder. Because of its simplicity, the Ultimatum Game is an apt tool for investigating complex human emotional and cognitive decision-making in an empirical setting. We observed strategic but socially impaired offers from gifted proposers and lower acceptance rates from gifted responders, resulting in lower total earnings in the Ultimatum Game. Thus, our results indicate that mathematically gifted adolescents have deficiencies in social valuation and mentalization
Optical variability properties of high luminosity AGN classes
We present the results of a comparative study of the intra-night optical
variability (INOV) characteristics of radio-loud and radio-quiet quasars, which
involves a systematic intra-night optical monitoring of seven sets of high
luminosity AGNs covering the redshift range {\it z} to {\it z}
. The sample, matched in the optical luminosity -- redshift (M
-- z) plane, consists of seven radio-quiet quasars (RQQs), eight radio
lobe-dominated quasars (LDQs), six radio core-dominated quasars (CDQs) and five
BL Lac objects (BLs). Systematic CCD observations, aided by a careful data
analysis procedure, have allowed us to detect INOV with amplitudes as low as
1%. Present observations cover a total of 113 nights (720 hours) with only a
single quasar monitored as continuously as possible on a night. Considering
cases of only unambiguous detections of INOV we have estimated duty cycles
(DCs) of 17%, 12%, 20% and 72% respectively for RQQs, LDQs, CDQs, and BLs. The
low amplitude and low DC of INOV shown by RQQs compared to BLs can be
understood in terms of their having optical synchrotron jets which are modestly
misdirected from us. From our fairly extensive dataset, no unambiguous general
trend of a correlation between the INOV amplitude and the apparent optical
brightness of the quasar is noticed.Comment: 36 pages, 14 Figures, due to large size Fig. 5,6,11 and 12 are not
included. Intersted people contact to [email protected]. Submitted to
Journal of Astrophysics and Astronom
Longer telomere length in peripheral white blood cells is associated with risk of lung cancer and the rs2736100 (CLPTM1L-TERT) polymorphism in a prospective cohort study among women in China.
A recent genome-wide association study of lung cancer among never-smoking females in Asia demonstrated that the rs2736100 polymorphism in the TERT-CLPTM1L locus on chromosome 5p15.33 was strongly and significantly associated with risk of adenocarcinoma of the lung. The telomerase gene TERT is a reverse transcriptase that is critical for telomere replication and stabilization by controlling telomere length. We previously found that longer telomere length measured in peripheral white blood cell DNA was associated with increased risk of lung cancer in a prospective cohort study of smoking males in Finland. To follow up on this finding, we carried out a nested case-control study of 215 female lung cancer cases and 215 female controls, 94% of whom were never-smokers, in the prospective Shanghai Women's Health Study cohort. There was a dose-response relationship between tertiles of telomere length and risk of lung cancer (odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.0, 1.4 [0.8-2.5], and 2.2 [1.2-4.0], respectively; P trend = 0.003). Further, the association was unchanged by the length of time from blood collection to case diagnosis. In addition, the rs2736100 G allele, which we previously have shown to be associated with risk of lung cancer in this cohort, was significantly associated with longer telomere length in these same study subjects (P trend = 0.030). Our findings suggest that individuals with longer telomere length in peripheral white blood cells may have an increased risk of lung cancer, but require replication in additional prospective cohorts and populations
Thermal Properties of Graphene, Carbon Nanotubes and Nanostructured Carbon Materials
Recent years witnessed a rapid growth of interest of scientific and
engineering communities to thermal properties of materials. Carbon allotropes
and derivatives occupy a unique place in terms of their ability to conduct
heat. The room-temperature thermal conductivity of carbon materials span an
extraordinary large range - of over five orders of magnitude - from the lowest
in amorphous carbons to the highest in graphene and carbon nanotubes. I review
thermal and thermoelectric properties of carbon materials focusing on recent
results for graphene, carbon nanotubes and nanostructured carbon materials with
different degrees of disorder. A special attention is given to the unusual size
dependence of heat conduction in two-dimensional crystals and, specifically, in
graphene. I also describe prospects of applications of graphene and carbon
materials for thermal management of electronics.Comment: Review Paper; 37 manuscript pages; 4 figures and 2 boxe
A direct physical interaction between Nanog and Sox2 regulates embryonic stem cell self-renewal
Embryonic stem (ES) cell self-renewal efficiency is determined by the Nanog protein level. However, the protein partners of Nanog that function to direct self-renewal are unclear. Here, we identify a Nanog interactome of over 130 proteins including transcription factors, chromatin modifying complexes, phosphorylation and ubiquitination enzymes, basal transcriptional machinery members, and RNA processing factors. Sox2 was identified as a robust interacting partner of Nanog. The purified Nanog–Sox2 complex identified a DNA recognition sequence present in multiple overlapping Nanog/Sox2 ChIP-Seq data sets. The Nanog tryptophan repeat region is necessary and sufficient for interaction with Sox2, with tryptophan residues required. In Sox2, tyrosine to alanine mutations within a triple-repeat motif (S X T/S Y) abrogates the Nanog–Sox2 interaction, alters expression of genes associated with the Nanog-Sox2 cognate sequence, and reduces the ability of Sox2 to rescue ES cell differentiation induced by endogenous Sox2 deletion. Substitution of the tyrosines with phenylalanine rescues both the Sox2–Nanog interaction and efficient self-renewal. These results suggest that aromatic stacking of Nanog tryptophans and Sox2 tyrosines mediates an interaction central to ES cell self-renewal
Flow Measurements via Two-particle Azimuthal Correlations in Au + Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV
Two particle azimuthal correlation functions are presented for charged
hadrons produced in Au + Au collisions at RHIC sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV. The
measurements permit determination of elliptic flow without event-by-event
estimation of the reaction plane. The extracted elliptic flow values v_2 show
significant sensitivity to both the collision centrality and the transverse
momenta of emitted hadrons, suggesting rapid thermalization and relatively
strong velocity fields. When scaled by the eccentricity of the collision zone,
epsilon, the scaled elliptic flow shows little or no dependence on centrality
for charged hadrons with relatively low p_T. A breakdown of this epsilon
scaling is observed for charged hadrons with p_T > 1.0 GeV/c for the most
central collisions.Comment: 6 pages, RevTeX 3, 4 figures, 307 authors, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Lett. on 11 April 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted in
figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made) publicly
available at http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm
Event-by-event fluctuations in Mean and Mean in sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV Au+Au Collisions
Distributions of event-by-event fluctuations of the mean transverse momentum
and mean transverse energy near mid-rapidity have been measured in Au+Au
collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV at RHIC. By comparing the distributions to
what is expected for statistically independent particle emission, the magnitude
of non-statistical fluctuations in mean transverse momentum is determined to be
consistent with zero. Also, no significant non-random fluctuations in mean
transverse energy are observed. By constructing a fluctuation model with two
event classes that preserve the mean and variance of the semi-inclusive p_T or
e_T spectra, we exclude a region of fluctuations in sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV Au+Au
collisions.Comment: 10 pages, RevTeX 3, 7 figures, 4 tables, 307 authors, submitted to
Phys. Rev. C on 22 March 2002. Plain text data tables for the points plotted
in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications are (will be made)
publicly available at
http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm
Studies of the Decay B+- -> D_CP K+-
We report studies of the decay B+- -> D_CP K+-, where D_CP denotes neutral D
mesons that decay to CP eigenstates. The analysis is based on a 29.1/fb data
sample of collected at the \Upsilon(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at
the KEKB asymmetric e+ e- storage ring. Ratios of branching fractions of
Cabibbo-suppressed to Cabibbo-favored processes involving D_CP are determined
to be B(B- -> D_1 K-)/B(B- -> D_1 pi-)=0.125 +- 0.036 +- 0.010 and B(B- -> D_2
K-)/B(B- -> D_2 pi-)=0.119 +- 0.028 +- 0.006, where indices 1 and 2 represent
the CP=+1 and CP=-1 eigenstates of the D0 - anti D0 system, respectively. We
also extract the partial rate asymmetries for B+- -> D_CP K+-, finding A_1 =
0.29 +- 0.26 +- 0.05 and A_2 = -0.22 +- 0.24 +- 0.04.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
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