While numerous methods have been proposed to produce semiconducting graphene, a significant band gap has never been demonstrated. The reason is that, regardless of the theoretical gap formation ...mechanism, subnanometer disorder prevents the required symmetry breaking necessary to make graphene semiconducting. In this work, we show for the first time that semiconducting graphene can be made by epitaxial growth. Using improved growth methods, we show by direct band measurements that a band gap greater than 0.5 eV can be produced in the first graphene layer grown on the SiC(0001) surface. This work demonstrates that order, a property that remains lacking in other graphene systems, is key to producing electronically viable semiconducting graphene.
Graphene nanoribbons will be essential components in future graphene nanoelectronics. However, in typical nanoribbons produced from lithographically patterned exfoliated graphene, the charge carriers ...travel only about ten nanometres between scattering events, resulting in minimum sheet resistances of about one kilohm per square. Here we show that 40-nanometre-wide graphene nanoribbons epitaxially grown on silicon carbide are single-channel room-temperature ballistic conductors on a length scale greater than ten micrometres, which is similar to the performance of metallic carbon nanotubes. This is equivalent to sheet resistances below 1 ohm per square, surpassing theoretical predictions for perfect graphene by at least an order of magnitude. In neutral graphene ribbons, we show that transport is dominated by two modes. One is ballistic and temperature independent; the other is thermally activated. Transport is protected from back-scattering, possibly reflecting ground-state properties of neutral graphene. At room temperature, the resistance of both modes is found to increase abruptly at a particular length--the ballistic mode at 16 micrometres and the other at 160 nanometres. Our epitaxial graphene nanoribbons will be important not only in fundamental science, but also--because they can be readily produced in thousands--in advanced nanoelectronics, which can make use of their room-temperature ballistic transport properties.
Corneal cross-linking using riboflavin and ultraviolet-A (RFUVA) is a clinical treatment targeting the stroma in progressive keratoconus. The stroma contains keratocan, lumican, mimecan, and decorin, ...core proteins of major proteoglycans (PGs) that bind collagen fibrils, playing important roles in stromal transparency. Here, a model reaction system using purified, non-glycosylated PG core proteins in solution in vitro has been compared with reactions inside an intact cornea, ex vivo, revealing effects of RFUVA on interactions between PGs and collagen cross-linking. Irradiation with UVA and riboflavin cross-links collagen α and β chains into larger polymers. In addition, RFUVA cross-links PG core proteins, forming higher molecular weight polymers. When collagen type I is mixed with individual purified, non-glycosylated PG core proteins in solution in vitro and subjected to RFUVA, both keratocan and lumican strongly inhibit collagen cross-linking. However, mimecan and decorin do not inhibit but instead form cross-links with collagen, forming new high molecular weight polymers. In contrast, corneal glycosaminoglycans, keratan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate, in isolation from their core proteins, are not cross-linked by RFUVA and do not form cross-links with collagen. Significantly, when RFUVA is conducted on intact corneas ex vivo, both keratocan and lumican, in their natively glycosylated form, do form cross-links with collagen. Thus, RFUVA causes cross-linking of collagen molecules among themselves and PG core proteins among themselves, together with limited linkages between collagen and keratocan, lumican, mimecan, and decorin. RFUVA as a diagnostic tool reveals that keratocan and lumican core proteins interact with collagen very differently than do mimecan and decorin.
Angle-resolved photoemission and x-ray diffraction experiments show that multilayer epitaxial graphene grown on the SiC(0001) surface is a new form of carbon that is composed of effectively isolated ...graphene sheets. The unique rotational stacking of these films causes adjacent graphene layers to electronically decouple leading to a set of nearly independent linearly dispersing bands (Dirac cones) at the graphene K point. Each cone corresponds to an individual macroscale graphene sheet in a multilayer stack where AB-stacked sheets can be considered as low density faults.
The reaction mechanism of anti-PbO type CoSe in Li, Na, and K ion half cells is studied. Ex situ X-ray diffraction data is analyzed with the Rietveld method, in conjunction with discharge profiles ...and extended cycling data. These indicate that intercalation followed by a conversion reaction occur in all systems. For the case of Na, the intercalation reaction was associated with a contraction in the stacking axis lattice parameter, whereas Li and K exhibited expansion. Magnetic susceptibility versus temperature measurements of Li- and Na-intercalated CoSe samples produce unusual results, and several explanations are proposed, including the formation of a superconductive phase. Extended cycling experiments are also performed, and high initial capacities of 937, 657, and 972 mAh/g are observed for Li, Na, and K, respectively. However, all systems exhibit significantly lower second discharge capacities of 796, 530, and 515 mAh/g. The capacities continue to decline during extended cycling, with the systems exhibiting tenth cycle capacity fades of 52, 85, and 95% and Li half cells exhibit capacities over 150 mAh/g at 15 mA/g after 50 cycles. The capacity fade is likely attributable to volume changes and irreversibility associated with conversion and intercalation reactions. This work correlates electrochemical features to the structural evolution, magnetic properties, and reaction mechanisms.
We show experimentally that multilayer graphene grown on the carbon terminated SiC(0001over ) surface contains rotational stacking faults related to the epitaxial condition at the graphene-SiC ...interface. Via first-principles calculation, we demonstrate that such faults produce an electronic structure indistinguishable from an isolated single graphene sheet in the vicinity of the Dirac point. This explains prior experimental results that showed single-layer electronic properties, even for epitaxial graphene films tens of layers thick.
Tuberculosis (TB) is the second leading cause of death by a single infectious disease behind COVID-19. Despite a century of effort, the current TB vaccine does not effectively prevent pulmonary TB, ...promote herd immunity, or prevent transmission. Therefore, alternative approaches are needed. We seek to develop a cell therapy that produces an effective antibiotic in response to TB infection. D-cycloserine (D-CS) is a second-line antibiotic for TB that inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis. We have determined D-CS to be the optimal candidate for anti-TB cell therapy due to its effectiveness against TB, relatively short biosynthetic pathway, and its low-resistance incidence. The first committed step towards D-CS synthesis is catalyzed by the L-serine-O-acetyltransferase (DcsE) which converts L-serine and acetyl-CoA to O-acetyl-L-serine (L-OAS). To test if the D-CS pathway could be an effective prophylaxis for TB, we endeavored to express functional DcsE in A549 cells as a human pulmonary model. We observed DcsE-FLAG-GFP expression using fluorescence microscopy. DcsE purified from A549 cells catalyzed the synthesis of L-OAS as observed by HPLC-MS. Therefore, human cells synthesize functional DcsE capable of converting L-serine and acetyl-CoA to L-OAS demonstrating the first step towards D-CS production in human cells.
We have produced ultrathin epitaxial graphite films which show remarkable 2D electron gas (2DEG) behavior. The films, composed of typically three graphene sheets, were grown by thermal decomposition ...on the (0001) surface of 6H−SiC, and characterized by surface science techniques. The low-temperature conductance spans a range of localization regimes according to the structural state (square resistance 1.5 kΩ to 225 kΩ at 4 K, with positive magnetoconductance). Low-resistance samples show characteristics of weak localization in two dimensions, from which we estimate elastic and inelastic mean free paths. At low field, the Hall resistance is linear up to 4.5 T, which is well-explained by n-type carriers of density 1012 cm-2 per graphene sheet. The most highly ordered sample exhibits Shubnikov−de Haas oscillations that correspond to nonlinearities observed in the Hall resistance, indicating a potential new quantum Hall system. We show that the high-mobility films can be patterned via conventional lithographic techniques, and we demonstrate modulation of the film conductance using a top-gate electrode. These key elements suggest electronic device applications based on nanopatterned epitaxial graphene (NPEG), with the potential for large-scale integration.
Accurate epidemiological models are necessary for governments, organizations, and individuals to respond appropriately to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic. One informative metric ...epidemiological models provide is the basic reproduction number (Formula: see text), which can describe if the infected population is growing (Formula: see text) or shrinking (Formula: see text). We introduce a novel algorithm that incorporates the susceptible-infected-recovered-dead model (SIRD model) with the long short-term memory (LSTM) neural network that allows for real-time forecasting and time-dependent parameter estimates, including the contact rate, Formula: see text, and deceased rate, Formula: see text. With an accurate prediction of Formula: see text and Formula: see text, we can directly derive Formula: see text, and find a numerical solution of compartmental models, such as the SIR-type models. Incorporating the epidemiological model dynamics of the SIRD model into the LSTM network, the new algorithm improves forecasting accuracy. Furthermore, we utilize mobility data from cellphones and positive test rate in our prediction model, and we also present a vaccination model. Leveraging mobility and vaccination schedule is important for capturing behavioral changes by individuals in response to the pandemic as well as policymakers.
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