Relative efficacy of masks and respirators as source control for viral aerosol shedding from people infected with SARS-CoV-2: a controlled human exhaled breath aerosol experimental study.

Background: Tight-fitting masks and respirators, in manikin studies, improved aerosol source control compared to loose-fitting masks. Whether this translates to humans is not known.

Methods: We compared efficacy of masks (cloth and surgical) and respirators (KN95 and N95) as source control for SARS-CoV-2 viral load in exhaled breath of volunteers with COVID-19 using a controlled human experimental study.

MXene Aerogel Derived Ultra-Active Vanadia Catalyst for Selective Conversion of Sustainable Alcohols to Base Chemicals.

Selective oxidation reactions are an important class of the current chemical industry and will be highly important for future sustainable chemical production. Especially, the selective oxidation of primary alcohols is expected to be of high future interest, as alcohols can be obtained on technical scales from biomass fermentation. The oxidation of primary alcohols produces aldehydes, which are important intermediates.

Exhaled Breath Aerosol Shedding of Highly Transmissible Versus Prior Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Variants.

Background: Aerosol inhalation is recognized as the dominant mode of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. Three highly transmissible lineages evolved during the pandemic. One hypothesis to explain increased transmissibility is that natural selection favors variants with higher rates of viral aerosol shedding.

From MAX Phase Carbides to Nitrides: Synthesis of VGaC, VGaN, and the Carbonitride VGaCN.

The research in MAX phases is mainly concentrated on the investigation of carbides rather than nitrides (currently >150 carbides and only <15 nitrides) that are predominantly synthesized by conventional solid-state techniques. This is not surprising since the preparation of nitrides and carbonitrides is more demanding due to the high stability and low diffusion rate of nitrogen-containing compounds. This leads to several drawbacks concerning potential variations in the chemical composition of the MAX phases as well as control of morphology, the two aspects that directly affect the resulting materials properties.

Infectious Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in Exhaled Aerosols and Efficacy of Masks During Early Mild Infection.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) epidemiology implicates airborne transmission; aerosol infectiousness and impacts of masks and variants on aerosol shedding are not well understood.

Methods: We recruited coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases to give blood, saliva, mid-turbinate and fomite (phone) swabs, and 30-minute breath samples while vocalizing into a Gesundheit-II, with and without masks at up to 2 visits 2 days apart. We quantified and sequenced viral RNA, cultured virus, and assayed serum samples for anti-spike and anti-receptor binding domain antibodies.

Ventilation and laboratory confirmed acute respiratory infection (ARI) rates in college residence halls in College Park, Maryland.

Strategies to protect building occupants from the risk of acute respiratory infection (ARI) need to consider ventilation for its ability to dilute and remove indoor bioaerosols. Prior studies have described an association of increased self-reported colds and influenza-like symptoms with low ventilation but have not combined rigorous characterization of ventilation with assessment of laboratory confirmed infections. We report a study designed to fill this gap.

Magnetic and Electrocatalytic Properties of Nanoscale Cobalt Boride, CoB.

The use of low-temperature solution synthesis followed by a brief annealing step allows metastable single-phase CoB nanoparticles to be obtained, with sizes ranging from 11 to 22 nm. The particles are ferromagnetic with a saturation magnetization of 91 A m kg (corresponding to 1.02 μ/Co) and a coercive field of 0.

Synthesis of a Highly Efficient Oxygen-Evolution Electrocatalyst by Incorporation of Iron into Nanoscale Cobalt Borides.

High-performance catalysts for the oxygen-evolution reaction in water electrolysis are usually based on expensive and rare elements. Herein, mixed-metal borides are shown to be competitive with established electrocatalysts like noble metal oxides and other transition-metal(oxide)-based catalysts. Iron incorporation into nanoscale dicobalt boride results in excellent activity and stability in alkaline solutions.

Disordered langasites LaGaMO : Eu (M = Si, Ge, Ti) as red-emitting LED phosphors.

Polycrystalline powders of La3Ga5SiO14 (LGSi), La3Ga5GeO14 (LGGe), and La3Ga5TiO14 (LGTi) doped with Eu3+ were studied with respect to their use as luminescent materials in solid state lighting based on light-emitting diodes. The langasites were synthesized with up to 35% of trivalent europium to achieve the highest possible doping amount. According to diffuse reflection measurements the undoped compounds have band gap energies of 4.

Thermal Properties of SiOC Glasses and Glass Ceramics at Elevated Temperatures.

In the present study, the effect of the chemical and phase composition on the thermal properties of silicon oxide carbides (SiOC) has been investigated. Dense monolithic SiOC materials with various carbon contents were prepared and characterized with respect to their thermal expansion, as well as thermal conductivity. SiOC glass has been shown to exhibit low thermal expansion (e.

Infectious virus in exhaled breath of symptomatic seasonal influenza cases from a college community.

Little is known about the amount and infectiousness of influenza virus shed into exhaled breath. This contributes to uncertainty about the importance of airborne influenza transmission. We screened 355 symptomatic volunteers with acute respiratory illness and report 142 cases with confirmed influenza infection who provided 218 paired nasopharyngeal (NP) and 30-minute breath samples (coarse >5-µm and fine ≤5-µm fractions) on days 1-3 after symptom onset.

Multiscale and luminescent, hollow microspheres for gas phase thermometry.

Recently developed laser-based measurement techniques are used to image the temperatures and velocities in gas flows. They require new phosphor materials with an unprecedented combination of properties. A novel synthesis procedure is described here; it results in hierarchically structured, hollow microspheres of Eu-doped YO, with unusual particle sizes and very good characteristics compared to full particles.

Metastable Ni7B3: A New Paramagnetic Boride from Solution Chemistry, Its Crystal Structure and Magnetic Properties.

We trapped an unknown metastable boride by applying low-temperature solution synthesis. Single-phase nickel boride, Ni7B3, was obtained as bulk samples of microcrystalline powders when annealing the amorphous, nanoscale precipitate that is formed in aqueous solution of nickel chloride upon reaction with sodium tetrahydridoborate. Its crystal structure was solved based on a disordered Th7Fe3-type model (hexagonal crystal system, space group P63mc, no.

Discovery of γ-MnP4 and the Polymorphism of Manganese Tetraphosphide.

A new polymorph of MnP4 was prepared by reaction of the elements via chemical vapor transport with iodine as transporting agent. The crystal structure was refined using single-crystal diffraction data (space group Cc, no. 9, a = 5.

Manganese Tetraboride, MnB4: High-Temperature Crystal Structure, p-n Transition, (55)Mn NMR Spectroscopy, Solid Solutions, and Mechanical Properties.

The structural and electronic properties of MnB4 were studied by high-temperature powder X-ray diffraction and measurements of the conductivity and Seebeck coefficient on spark-plasma-sintered samples. A transition from the room-temperature monoclinic structure (space group P2(1)/c) to a high-temperature orthorhombic structure (space group Pnnm) was observed at about 650 K. The material remained semiconducting after the transition, but its behavior changed from p-type to n-type.

Analyzing ammonia bridges--and more about bonding in boron-rich solids.

Three types of boron-rich compounds in unusual bonding situations are described: First, salts that contain closo-hydroborate anions and exhibit hydrogen and dihydrogen bonds and a strong ammonia network; second, boron-rich metal borides with an unexpected metal-metal bond stabilized by Peierls distortion; and third, nanoscale metal borides that bind selectively to certain heptapeptides identified by the phage display technique.

Selection of peptides binding to metallic borides by screening M13 phage display libraries.

Background: Metal borides are a class of inorganic solids that is much less known and investigated than for example metal oxides or intermetallics. At the same time it is a highly versatile and interesting class of compounds in terms of physical and chemical properties, like semiconductivity, ferromagnetism, or catalytic activity. This makes these substances attractive for the generation of new materials.

Peierls-distorted monoclinic MnB(4) with a Mn-Mn bond.

Tetraborides of chromium and manganese exhibit an unusual boron-atom framework that resembles the hypothetical tetragonal diamond. They are believed to be very hard. Single crystals of MnB4 have now been grown.

closo-Hydroborates from liquid ammonia: synthesis and crystal structures of [Li(NH3)4]2[B12H12]·2NH3, Rb2[B12H12]·8NH3, Cs2[B12H12]·6NH3 and Rb2[B10H10]·5NH3.

Ammonia complexes of hydroborates may be potentially promising materials for ammonia storage or indirect hydrogen storage. The title compounds contain 20.04-52.

Possible superhardness of CrB4.

Chromium tetraboride [orthorhombic, space group Pnnm (No. 58), a = 474.65(9) pm, b = 548.

Crystal structure refinement and bonding patterns of CrB4: a boron-rich boride with a framework of tetrahedrally coordinated B atoms.

Crystals of chromium tetraboride, a recently proposed candidate superhard material, have been grown for the first time to allow for a first structure refinement of the compound [orthorhombic, space group Immm (No. 71), a = 474.82(8) pm, b = 548.

Wet-chemical synthesis of nanoscale iron boride, XAFS analysis and crystallisation to α-FeB.

The reaction of lithium tetrahydridoborate and iron bromide in high boiling ether as reaction medium produces an ultrafine, pyrophoric and magnetic precipitate. X-ray and electron diffraction proved the product to be amorphous. According to X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (XAFS) the precipitate has FeB structure up to nearly two coordination spheres around an iron absorber atom.

Boron: elementary challenge for experimenters and theoreticians.

Many of the fundamental questions regarding the solid-state chemistry of boron are still unsolved, more than 200 years after its discovery. Recently, theoretical work on the existence and stability of known and new modifications of the element combined with high-pressure and high-temperature experiments have revealed new aspects. A lot has also happened over the last few years in the field of reactions between boron and main group elements.

Multi-centre, hydrogen and dihydrogen bonds in lithium closo-hydroborate obtained from liquid ammonia.

Charge density analysis reveals multi-centre bonds in the cluster, hydrogen bridges in the ammonia network, and the dihydrogen bond between H(delta-) and H(delta+); all observed in one compound, [Li(NH3)4]2B6H6.2NH3.