Tracing ancient solar cycles with tree rings and radiocarbon in the first millennium BCE.

The Sun drives Earth's energy systems, influencing weather, ocean currents, and agricultural productivity. Understanding solar variability is critical, but direct observations are limited to 400 years of sunspot records. To extend this timeline, cosmic ray-produced radionuclides like C in tree-rings provide invaluable insights.

Source, transport, and fate of nitrate in shallow groundwater in the eastern Niger Delta.

The eastern Niger Delta region in Nigeria is a hotspot for reactive nitrogen pollution due to extensive animal husbandry, pit latrine usage, and agricultural practices. Despite the high level of human activity, the sources and processes affecting nitrogen in groundwater remain understudied. Groundwater nitrate (NO) concentrations are highly variable, with some areas recording values well above the safe drinking water threshold of 50 mg/L.

Advanced 1D heterostructures based on nanotube templates and molecules.

Recent advancements in materials science have shed light on the potential of exploring hierarchical assemblies of molecules on surfaces, driven by both fundamental and applicative challenges. This field encompasses diverse areas including molecular storage, drug delivery, catalysis, and nanoscale chemical reactions. In this context, the utilization of nanotube templates (NTs) has emerged as promising platforms for achieving advanced one-dimensional (1D) molecular assemblies.

Understanding communication between patients and healthcare professionals regarding comprehensive biomarker testing in precision oncology: A scoping review.

Background: Precision oncology, using comprehensive biomarker testing (cBT) to inform individual cancer diagnosis, prognosis and treatment, includes increasingly complex technology and clinical data sets. People impacted by cancer (patients and caregivers) and healthcare professionals (HCPs) face distinct challenges in navigating the cBT and personalized treatment landscape. This review summarizes evidence regarding cBT-related communication between people impacted by cancer and HCPs and identifies important avenues for future research in precision oncology.

Excitonic Effects in Energy-Loss Spectra of Freestanding Graphene.

In this work, we perform electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS) of freestanding graphene with high energy and momentum resolution to disentangle the quasielastic scattering from the excitation gap of Dirac electrons close to the optical limit. We show the importance of many-body effects on electronic excitations at finite transferred momentum by comparing measured EELS to ab initio calculations at increasing levels of theory. Quasi-particle corrections and excitonic effects are addressed within the GW approximation and the Bethe-Salpeter equation, respectively.

Environmental inventory of mercury (Hg) for the marine shallow water hydrothermal system at Panarea, Italy.

Hydrothermal fluids, hydrothermal gases, porewater and seawater were collected from the La Calcara (LC) hydrothermal area (n = 34). Additional samples were taken at Bottaro North (n = 2), Black Point (n = 3) and Panarea Harbor (n = 3). Total Hg (THg) porewater concentrations ranged from 300 to 6200 pM, while dissolved Hg concentrations were generally lower by two to three orders of magnitude.

Stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic and their association with distress, depressive, and anxiety symptoms in cancer out-patients.

Patients with cancer might be particularly prone to stress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of pandemic-related stressors on oncological patients' psychological well-being. During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany 122 cancer out-patients of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Munich reported on COVID-19-related stressors (information satisfaction, threat perception, and fear of disease deterioration) and answered standardized questionnaires for psychosocial distress (DT) as well as depression and anxiety symptoms (PHQ-2, GAD-2).

Molybdenum Mobility During Managed Aquifer Recharge in Carbonate Aquifers.

The mobility of molybdenum (Mo) in groundwater systems has received little attention, although a high intake of Mo is known to be detrimental to human and animal health. Here, we used a comprehensive hydrochemical data set collected during a multi-cycle aquifer storage and recovery test to study the mechanisms that control the mobility of Mo under spatially and temporally varying hydrochemical conditions. The model-based interpretation of the data indicated that the initial mobilization of Mo occurs as a sequence of reactions, in which (i) the aerobic injectant induces pyrite oxidation, (ii) the released acidity is partially buffered by the dissolution of dolomite that (iii) leads to the release of Mo with highly soluble sulfurized organic matter prevailing between the intercrystalline spaces of the dolomite matrix or incorporated in dolomite crystals.

Highly Sensitive and Selective Formaldehyde Gas Sensors Based on Polyvinylpyrrolidone/Nitrogen-Doped Double-Walled Carbon Nanotubes.

A highly sensitive and selective formaldehyde sensor was successfully fabricated using hybrid materials of nitrogen-doped double-walled carbon nanotubes (N-DWCNTs) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). Double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) and N-DWCNTs were produced by high-vacuum chemical vapor deposition using ethanol and benzylamine, respectively. Purified DWCNTs and N-DWCNTs were dropped separately onto the sensing substrate.

Molybdenum Release Triggered by Dolomite Dissolution: Experimental Evidence and Conceptual Model.

The injection of oxygenated water into anoxic aquifers during managed aquifer recharge (MAR) can cause the mobilization of metal(loid)s. Here, we study the processes controlling MAR-induced molybdenum (Mo) release in dolomitic aquifers. Sequential chemical extractions and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy combined with scanning electron microscopy point to an association of Mo with easily soluble sulfurized organic matter present in intercrystalline spaces of dolomites or directly incorporated within dolomite crystals.

Momentum-Dependent Oscillator Strength Crossover of Excitons and Plasmons in Two-Dimensional PtSe.

The 1T-phase layered PtX chalcogenide has attracted widespread interest due to its thickness dependent metal-semiconductor transition driven by strong interlayer coupling. While the ground state properties of this paradigmatic material system have been widely explored, its fundamental excitation spectrum remains poorly understood. Here we combine first-principles calculations with momentum () resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy (-EELS) to study the collective excitations in 1T-PtSe from the monolayer limit to the bulk.

Driving fitness in clinically stable outpatients with chronic schizophrenia.

Introduction: Driving motorized vehicles is an integral part of individual mobility and a key parameter for employment and social integration. This naturalistic, cross-sectional study investigated the associations between driving fitness, residual symptomatology, olanzapine equivalent, and extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) in long term stable outpatients with schizophrenia.

Methods: Beside sociodemographic data, and driving habits, residual symptoms, and EPS were assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), and the Modified Simpson Angus Scale (MSAS).

Unravelling the Complete Raman Response of Graphene Nanoribbons Discerning the Signature of Edge Passivation.

Controlling the edge morphology and terminations of graphene nanoribbons (GNR) allows tailoring their electronic properties and boosts their application potential. One way of making such structures is encapsulating them inside single-walled carbon nanotubes. Despite the versatility of Raman spectroscopy to resolve strong spectral signals of these systems, discerning the response of long nanoribbons from that of any residual precursor remaining outside after synthesis has been so far elusive.

[The views of cancer out-patients on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic].

Background: This study investigates current needs and psychosocial burden of out-patients with cancer during the COVID-19-Pandemic.

Material And Methods: Between 11/2020 and 02/2021 122 cancer patients who underwent out-patient treatment at the Comprehensive Cancer Center Munich participated in the study. Based on a standardized, semi-structured interview, participants were asked about their knowledge and informational needs related to COVID-19, risk perception and concerns regarding continuing out-patient treatment, COVID-19 related distress, confidence in the national health system, and their readiness to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Tip-Enhanced Stokes-Anti-Stokes Scattering from Carbyne.

Carbyne, a linear chain of carbon atoms, is the truly one-dimensional allotrope of carbon and the strongest known Raman scatterer. Here, we use tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) to further enhance the Raman response of a single carbyne chain confined inside a double-walled carbon nanotube. We observe an increase of the anti-Stokes scattering by a factor of 3290 and a 22-fold enhancement of the anti-Stokes/Stokes ratio relative to far-field measurements.

Tree-rings reveal two strong solar proton events in 7176 and 5259 BCE.

The Sun sporadically produces eruptive events leading to intense fluxes of solar energetic particles (SEPs) that dramatically disrupt the near-Earth radiation environment. Such events have been directly studied for the last decades but little is known about the occurrence and magnitude of rare, extreme SEP events. Presently, a few events that produced measurable signals in cosmogenic radionuclides such as C, Be and Cl have been found.

Distress in hospitalized cancer patients: Associations with personality traits, clinical and psychosocial characteristics.

Objective: To improve allocation of psychosocial care and to provide patient-oriented support offers, identification of determinants of elevated distress is needed. So far, there is a lack of evidence investigating the interplay between individual disposition and current clinical and psychosocial determinants of distress in the inpatient setting.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we investigated 879 inpatients with different cancer sites treated in a German Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Optimization and assessment of a sequential extraction procedure for calcium carbonate rocks.

Sequential extraction analyses are widely used for the determination of element speciation in sediments and soils. Typical sequential extraction protocols were developed to extract from low-carbonate samples and therefore are not necessarily suitable for high-carbonate samples. In this study, we tested increased reagent to sample ratios to adjust an existing sequential extraction procedure to analyze high-CaCO samples with concentrations ranging from 70 to above 90 %.

Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering of Single Carbyne Chains.

We investigate the anti-Stokes Raman scattering of single carbyne chains confined inside double-walled carbon nanotubes. Individual chains are identified using tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) and heated by resonant excitation with varying laser powers. We study the temperature dependence of carbyne's Raman spectrum and quantify the laser-induced heating based on the anti-Stokes/Stokes ratio.

Primary Chemotherapy in a 47-Year-Old Patient with Giant Ulcerative and Necrotizing Nonseminomatous Testicular Germ Cell Tumor.

Testicular cancer is a rare disease; however, cure rates are high for all tumor stages. Mostly, the disease is diagnosed in an early (local) stage. We report the case of a 47-year-old male patient with a giant nonseminomatous germ cell tumor.

Deciphering the Intense Postgap Absorptions of Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

Rich valleytronics and diverse defect-induced or interlayer pre-bandgap excitonics have been extensively studied in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), a system with fascinating optical physics. However, more intense high-energy absorption peaks (∼3 eV) above the bandgaps used to be long ignored and their underlying physical origin remains to be unveiled. Here, we employ momentum resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy to measure the dispersive behaviors of the valley excitons and intense higher-energy peaks at finite momenta.

Isotopic Labelling of Confined Carbyne.

Carbyne is a one-dimensional allotrope of carbon consisting of a linear chain of carbon atoms bonded to each other with exceptional strength. Its outstanding mechanical, optical, and electronic properties have been theoretically predicted, but its stability has only been achieved when grown encapsulated in the hollow core of carbon nanotubes. One of the advantages of this confinement is that its properties can be controlled by the chain's length and surrounding environment.

Toward Confined Carbyne with Tailored Properties.

Confining carbyne to a space that allows for stability and controlled reactivity is a very appealing approach to have access to materials with tunable optical and electronic properties without rival. Here, we show how controlling the diameter of single-walled carbon nanotubes opens the possibility to grow a confined carbyne with a defined and tunable band gap. The metallicity of the tubes has a minimal influence on the formation of the carbyne, whereas the diameter plays a major role in the growth.