MoTe2 is an exfoliable transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) that crystallizes in three symmetries: the semiconducting trigonal-prismatic 2H- or α-phase, the semimetallic and monoclinic 1T′- or ...β-phase, and the semimetallic orthorhombic γ-structure. The 2H-phase displays a band gap of ∼1 eV making it appealing for flexible and transparent optoelectronics. The γ-phase is predicted to possess unique topological properties that might lead to topologically protected nondissipative transport channels. Recently, it was argued that it is possible to locally induce phase-transformations in TMDs, through chemical doping, local heating, or electric-field to achieve ohmic contacts or to induce useful functionalities such as electronic phase-change memory elements. The combination of semiconducting and topological elements based upon the same compound might produce a new generation of high performance, low dissipation optoelectronic elements. Here, we show that it is possible to engineer the phases of MoTe2 through W substitution by unveiling the phase-diagram of the Mo1–x W x Te2 solid solution, which displays a semiconducting to semimetallic transition as a function of x. We find that a small critical W concentration x c ∼ 8% stabilizes the γ-phase at room temperature. This suggests that crystals with x close to x c might be particularly susceptible to phase transformations induced by an external perturbation, for example, an electric field. Photoemission spectroscopy, indicates that the γ-phase possesses a Fermi surface akin to that of WTe2.
Synthesis and comprehensive examination of a polyurethane (urea) elastomer that self-heals based on intrinsic dynamic non-covalent bonds (van der Waals and hydrogen) are reported. The dynamic ...non-covalent bonds include hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces. The difference in the previous approach in which hydrogen bond self-healing materials introduced dense quadruple hydrogen bonds at the ends or branched chains poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) diol was used as the soft segment of the polyurethane (urea) material, and strong van der Waals forces were provided by the large number of carbonyl groups in its main chain; hydrogen bonds were formed by urethane bonds, urea bonds, and the carbonyl groups on PPC. The mechanical properties and healing efficiency of the self-healing polyurethane (urea) elastomer were studied.
In situ
temperature-dependent infrared and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LNMR) measurements were combined with molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the self-healing mechanisms. The results of the studies on the self-healing polyurethane demonstrate that the dynamic cross-linking between hydrogen bonds and van der Waals forces is the basic driving force for the self-healing ability of the material, and temperature is the key factor that affects hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces. The effect of crystallization on the self-healing ability of the material was also studied. The molecular dynamics simulation results also demonstrate interplay between van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds at different temperatures.
Introduction to new approaches to self-healing, proper characterization methods for dynamic noncovalent bonds, and demonstration of simulations.
Abstract
Background
Recent studies have focused on initial clinical and epidemiological characteristics of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is the mainly revealing situation in Wuhan, ...Hubei.
Aim
This study aims to reveal more data on the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of COVID-19 patients outside of Wuhan, Zhejiang, China.
Design
This study was a retrospective case series.
Methods
Eighty-eight cases of laboratory-confirmed and three cases of clinically confirmed COVID-19 were admitted to five hospitals in Zhejiang province, China. Data were collected from 20 January 2020 to 11 February 2020.
Results and discussion
Of all 91 patients, 88 (96.70%) were laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 with throat swab samples that tested positive for SARS-Cov-2, three (3.30%) cases were clinically diagnosed. The median age of the patients was 50 (36.5–57) years, and female accounted for 59.34%. In this sample, 40 (43.96%) patients had contracted the disease from local cases, 31 (34.07%) patients had been to Wuhan/Hubei, eight (8.79%) patients had contacted with people from Wuhan, and 11 (12.09%) patients were diagnosed after having flown together in the same flight with no passenger that could later be identified as the source of infection. In particular within the city of Ningbo, 60.52% cases can be traced back to an event held in a temple. The most common symptoms were fever (71.43%), cough (60.44%) and fatigue (43.96%). The median of incubation period was 6 (interquartile range 3–8) days and the median time from the first visit to a doctor to the confirmed diagnosis was 1 (1–2) days. According to the chest computed tomography scans, 67.03% cases had bilateral pneumonia.
Conclusions
Social activity cluster, family cluster and flying alongside with persons already infected with COVID-19 were how people got infected with COVID-19 in Zhejiang.
Aromatic and antiaromatic molecules-which have delocalized circuits of 4n + 2 or 4n electrons, respectively-exhibit ring currents around their perimeters. The direction of the ring current in an ...aromatic molecule is such as to generate a magnetic field that opposes the external field inside the ring (a 'diatropic' current), while the ring current in an antiaromatic molecule flows in the reverse direction ('paratropic'). Similar persistent currents occur in metal or semiconductor rings, when the phase coherence of the electronic wavefunction is preserved around the ring. Persistent currents in non-molecular rings switch direction as a function of the magnetic flux passing through the ring, so that they can be changed from diatropic ('aromatic') to paratropic ('antiaromatic') simply by changing the external magnetic field. As in molecular systems, the direction of the persistent current also depends on the number of electrons. The relationship between ring currents in molecular and non-molecular rings is poorly understood, partly because they are studied in different size regimes: the largest aromatic molecules have diameters of about one nanometre, whereas persistent currents are observed in microfabricated rings with diameters of 20-1,000 nanometres. Understanding the connection between aromaticity and quantum-coherence effects in mesoscopic rings provides a motivation for investigating ring currents in molecules of an intermediate size. Here we show, using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and density functional theory, that a six-porphyrin nanoring template complex, with a diameter of 2.4 nanometres, is antiaromatic in its 4+ oxidation state (80 π electrons) and aromatic in its 6+ oxidation state (78 π electrons). The antiaromatic state has a huge paramagnetic susceptibility, despite having no unpaired electrons. This work demonstrates that a global ring current can be promoted in a macrocycle by adjusting its oxidation state to suppress the local ring currents of its components.The discovery of ring currents around a molecule with a circumference of 7.5 nanometres, at room temperature, shows that quantum coherence can persist in surprisingly large molecular frameworks.
Wind blowing over sand on Earth produces decimeter-wavelength ripples and hundred-meter— to kilometer-wavelength dunes: bedforms of two distinct size modes. Observations from the Mars Science ...Laboratory Curiosity rover and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveal that Mars hosts a third stable wind-driven bedform, with meter-scale wavelengths. These bedforms are spatially uniform in size and typically have asymmetric profiles with angle-of-repose lee slopes and sinuous crest lines, making them unlike terrestrial wind ripples. Rather, these structures resemble fluid-drag ripples, which on Earth include water-worked current ripples, but on Mars instead form by wind because of the higher kinematic viscosity of the low-density atmosphere. A reevaluation of the wind-deposited strata in the Burns formation (about 3.7 billion years old or younger) identifies potential wind-drag ripple stratification formed under a thin atmosphere.
Optically addressable spins are a promising platform for quantum information science due to their combination of a long-lived qubit with a spin-optical interface for external qubit control and ...readout. The ability to chemically synthesize such systems—to generate optically addressable molecular spins—offers a modular qubit architecture which can be transported across different environments and atomistically tailored for targeted applications through bottom-up design and synthesis. Here, we demonstrate how the spin coherence in such optically addressable molecular qubits can be controlled through engineering their host environment. By inserting chromium (IV)-based molecular qubits into a nonisostructural host matrix, we generate noise-insensitive clock transitions, through a transverse zero-field splitting, that are not present when using an isostructural host. This host-matrix engineering leads to spin-coherence times of more than10μsfor optically addressable molecular spin qubits in a nuclear and electron-spin-rich environment. We model the dependence of spin coherence on transverse zero-field splitting from first principles and experimentally verify the theoretical predictions with four distinct molecular systems. Finally, we explore how to further enhance optical-spin interfaces in molecular qubits by investigating the key parameters of optical linewidth and spin-lattice relaxation time. Our results demonstrate the ability to test qubit structure-function relationships through a tunable molecular platform and highlight opportunities for using molecular qubits for nanoscale quantum sensing in noisy environments.
Vibrational spectroscopy is an essential tool in chemical analyses, biological assays, and studies of functional materials. Over the past decade, various coherent nonlinear vibrational spectroscopic ...techniques have been developed and enabled researchers to study time-correlations of the fluctuating frequencies that are directly related to solute–solvent dynamics, dynamical changes in molecular conformations and local electrostatic environments, chemical and biochemical reactions, protein structural dynamics and functions, characteristic processes of functional materials, and so on. In order to gain incisive and quantitative information on the local electrostatic environment, molecular conformation, protein structure and interprotein contacts, ligand binding kinetics, and electric and optical properties of functional materials, a variety of vibrational probes have been developed and site-specifically incorporated into molecular, biological, and material systems for time-resolved vibrational spectroscopic investigation. However, still, an all-encompassing theory that describes the vibrational solvatochromism, electrochromism, and dynamic fluctuation of vibrational frequencies has not been completely established mainly due to the intrinsic complexity of intermolecular interactions in condensed phases. In particular, the amount of data obtained from the linear and nonlinear vibrational spectroscopic experiments has been rapidly increasing, but the lack of a quantitative method to interpret these measurements has been one major obstacle in broadening the applications of these methods. Among various theoretical models, one of the most successful approaches is a semiempirical model generally referred to as the vibrational spectroscopic map that is based on a rigorous theory of intermolecular interactions. Recently, genetic algorithm, neural network, and machine learning approaches have been applied to the development of vibrational solvatochromism theory. In this review, we provide comprehensive descriptions of the theoretical foundation and various examples showing its extraordinary successes in the interpretations of experimental observations. In addition, a brief introduction to a newly created repository Web site (http://frequencymap.org) for vibrational spectroscopic maps is presented. We anticipate that a combination of the vibrational frequency map approach and state-of-the-art multidimensional vibrational spectroscopy will be one of the most fruitful ways to study the structure and dynamics of chemical, biological, and functional molecular systems in the future.
Abstract
As a novel X-ray focusing technology, lobster-eye micropore optics (MPO) feature both a wide observing field of view and true imaging capability, promising sky monitoring with significantly ...improved sensitivity and spatial resolution in soft X-rays. Since first proposed by Angel, the optics have been extensively studied, developed and trialed over the past decades. In this Letter, we report on the first-light results from a flight experiment of the Lobster Eye Imager for Astronomy, a pathfinder of the wide-field X-ray telescope of the Einstein Probe mission. The piggyback imager, launched in 2022 July, has a mostly unvignetted field of view of 18.°6 × 18.°6. Its spatial resolution is in the range of 4′–7′ in FWHM and the focal spot effective area is 2–3 cm
2
, both showing only mild fluctuations across the field of view. We present images of the Galactic center region, Sco X-1, and the diffuse Cygnus Loop nebular taken in snapshot observations over 0.5–4 keV. These are truly wide-field X-ray images of celestial bodies observed, for the first time, by a focusing imaging telescope. Initial analyses of the in-flight data show excellent agreement between the observed images and the on-ground calibration and simulations. The instrument and its characterization are briefly described, as well as the flight experiment. The results provide a solid basis for the development of the present and proposed wide-field X-ray missions using lobster-eye MPO.
Quadriceps strength relates to exercise capacity and prognosis in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We wanted to quantify the prevalence of quadriceps weakness in COPD and hypothesised ...that it would not be restricted to patients with severe airflow obstruction or dyspnoea. Predicted quadriceps strength was calculated using a regression equation (incorporating age, sex, height and fat-free mass), based on measurements from 212 healthy subjects. The prevalence of weakness (defined as observed values 1.645 standardised residuals below predicted) was related to Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage and Medical Research Council (MRC) dyspnoea score in two cohorts of stable COPD outpatients recruited from the UK (n = 240) and the Netherlands (n = 351). 32% and 33% of UK and Dutch COPD patients had quadriceps weakness. A significant proportion of patients in GOLD stages 1 and 2, or with an MRC dyspnoea score of 1 or 2, had quadriceps weakness (28 and 26%, respectively). These values rose to 38% in GOLD stage 4, and 43% in patients with an MRC Score of 4 or 5. Quadriceps weakness was demonstrable in one-third of COPD patients attending hospital respiratory outpatient services. Quadriceps weakness exists in the absence of severe airflow obstruction or breathlessness.
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