Niche Expansion Has Increased the Risk of Fisher LaSalle Invasions at the Global Scale.

Invasive alien species often undergo shifts in their ecological niches when they establish themselves in environments that differ from their native habitats. Fisher LaSalle (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), specifically, has caused huge economic losses to trees in Australia. The global spread of cultivation has allowed to threaten plantations beyond its native habitat.

Predicting the potential distribution of Campsis grandiflora in China under climate change.

Because the research on the geographical distribution of species significantly influences people's understanding of species protection and utilization, it is important to study the influence of climate change on plants' geographical distribution patterns. Based on 166 distribution records and 11 climate and terrain variables, we used MaxEnt (Maximum Entropy) model and ArcGIS software to predict the potential distribution of Campsis grandiflora under climate change and then determined the dominant climate variables that significantly affected its geographical distribution. In our study, the area under the curve (AUC) value of the training data was 0.

Direct/indirect band gap tunability in van der Waals heterojunctions based on ternary 2D materials Mo W Y.

Artificial van der Waals (vdW) heterojunctions assembled by atomically-thin two-dimensional (2D) materials have demonstrated new physical phenomena and unusual properties, thus triggering new electronic, optoelectronic, valleytronic and photocatalytic application. Herein, the electronic band structures of different vdW heterojunctions based on ternary Mo W Y (Y  =  S, Se; x  =  0-1) monolayer with five stacking orders (AA, AA[Formula: see text], A[Formula: see text]B, AB, AB[Formula: see text]) have been investigated using first principle calculations. The direct/indirect band gap has been obtained in the AA[Formula: see text] stacking type-II heterojunctions, ranging from 0.

Electronic and magnetic properties of phosphorene tuned by Cl and metallic atom co-doping.

Using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory, we studied the electronic and magnetic properties of phosphorene co-doped with Cl and a metal atom (including Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni). It is found that Cl atom doping makes it much easier for metallic atoms to dope into phosphorene. Phosphorene co-doped with Cl and V, Cr, Mn, or Fe is magnetic, which is determined by the number of valence electrons.

Superconductivity in Li-intercalated bilayer arsenene and hole-doped monolayer arsenene: a first-principles prediction.

Using first-principles calculations, we find Li-intercalated bilayer arsenene with AB stacking is dynamically stable, which is different from pristine bilayer with AA stacking. Electron-phonon coupling of the stable Li-intercalated bilayer arsenene are dominated by the low frequency vibrational modes (E″(1), [Formula: see text](1), E'(1) and acoustic modes) and lead to an superconductivity with T   =  8.68 K with isotropical Eliashberg function.

Facile synthesis of Bi/BiVO composite ellipsoids with high photocatalytic activity.

BiVO-based composites have been extensively investigated as promising photocatalysts due to their strong visible-light absorption. In this work, novel Bi/BiVO composites with excellent photocatalytic performance were firstly fabricated via a simple hydrothermal method, using BiVO as a self-sacrificing template and NH·HO as a reductant. In the hydrothermal process, partial BiVO was reduced to form metallic Bi nanoparticles, which were deposited on the surface of BiVO.

Electronic properties and transistors of the NbS-MoS-NbS NR heterostructure.

Based on density function theory and nonequilibrium Green's functions, we construct a NbS-MoS-NbS NR inplane heterostructure. The effects of channel length, width, chirality and vacancy of the heterostructure on transport properties are systematically investigated. The electron transport of the armchair-edge heterostructure device shows ballistic transport properties, while the zigzag-edge heterostructure device exhibits resonance tunneling transport properties.

Electronic structures and transport properties of a MoS-NbS nanoribbon lateral heterostructure.

Lateral heterostructures built from an armchair MoS nanoribbon (AMoSNR) and an armchair NbS nanoribbon (ANbSNR) were studied based on first-principles calculations and a non-equilibrium Green's function method. It is found that the work function of the AMoSNR shows substantial oscillation with increasing nanoribbon width, which is different from the work functions of other kinds of nanoribbons. The AMoSNR-ANbSNR lateral heterostructure exhibits an anomalous transport gap that is much larger than the bandgap of the AMoSNR.