Counting Electrons in Electrides.

The selection and design of charge integration methods remain an outstanding challenge in materials chemistry. In complex materials like electrides, this challenge is amplified by the small charge and complex shape of electride wave functions. For these reasons, popular integration methods, such as the Bader method, usually fail to assign any charge to the bare electrons in an electride.

Reconsidering Anode Materials for Fluoride-Ion Batteries-The Unexpected Roles of Carbide Formation.

Carbon is a ubiquitous additive to enhance the electrical conductivity of battery electrodes. Although carbon is generally assumed to be inert, the poor reversibility seen in some fluoride-ion battery electrodes has not been explained or systematically explored. Here, we utilize the Materials Project database to assess electrode deactivation reactions that result in the formation of a metal carbide.

Assessing ternary materials for fluoride-ion batteries.

Although lithium-ion batteries have transformed energy storage, there is a need to develop battery technologies with improved performance. Fluoride-ion batteries (FIBs) may be promising alternatives in part due to their high theoretical energy density and natural elemental abundance. However, electrode materials for FIBs, particularly cathodes, have not been systematically evaluated, limiting rapid progress.

Cognitive Complications of COVID-19 Infection.

SARS-CoV-2 is associated with a post-infectious neurocognitive syndrome characterized by fatigue and deficits in attention, memory, and executive function. As screening cognitive testing generally remains normal, the pathophysiologic basis of these symptoms remains controversial and there is no standardized treatment paradigm. We present a clinical case demonstrative of typical neurocognitive sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, highlighting medical and social factors that may have contributed to the severity of symptoms.

Role of interventional radiology in pain management in oncology patients.

This article reviews the current evidence of interventional radiology procedures for patients suffering with debilitating cancer pain, refractory to conventional therapies. Cancer pain is notoriously difficult to treat. Up to 90% of cancer patients experience pain with 56-82% of cancer pain controlled inadequately.

ScC, a 2D Semiconducting Electride.

Electrides are exotic materials that typically have electrons present in well-defined lattice sites rather than within atoms. Although all known electrides have an electropositive metal cation adjacent to the electride site, the effect of cation electronegativity on the properties of electrides is not yet known. Here, we examine trivalent metal carbides with varying degrees of electronegativity and experimentally synthesize ScC.

Electrolyte-Free Spectroscopy and Imaging of Graphite Intercalation.

Engineering electrode materials for optoelectronic and energy storage applications requires a fundamental understanding of intercalation using spatially-resolved techniques. However, spectroscopic methods can have limited spatial resolution and low intensity since the signal passes through electrolyte. Here, a device geometry is presented in which the electrolyte is laterally separated from the area probed spectroscopically, so that the signal does not pass through the electrolyte.

Perioperative management of patients with Mucolipidosis II and III: Lessons from a case series.

Mucolipidosis (ML) II and III are complex lysosomal storage disorders characterized by progressive multisystem pathology which can pose challenges to the anesthetist and increase the risks associated with general anesthesia. We sought to review the management of patients with ML II and III undergoing anesthesia in our institution in order to better define recommendations for the preoperative assessment and optimization of these children. We further elected to analyze the conduct of anesthesia, intraoperative management, and perioperative complications that our patients had experienced in order to allow improved informed consent and anesthetic planning.

First-Principles Prediction of Electrochemical Electron-Anion Exchange: Ion Insertion without Redox.

It is widely assumed that the gain or loss of electrons in a material must be accompanied by its reduction or oxidation. Here, we report a system in which the insertion/deinsertion of an electron occurs without any reduction or oxidation. Using first-principles methods, we demonstrate this effect in the YCF-[YC](e) material system, where (e) indicates a lattice site containing a bare electron.

Ratcheting quasi-ballistic electrons in silicon geometric diodes at room temperature.

Ratcheting effects play an important role in systems ranging from mechanical socket wrenches to biological motor proteins. The underlying principle is to convert a fluctuating, unbiased force into unidirectional motion. Here, we report the ratcheting of electrons at room temperature using a semiconductor nanowire with precisely engineered asymmetry.

Bonding in 2D Donor-Acceptor Heterostructures.

The ability to alter distances between atoms is among the most important tools in materials design. Despite this importance, controlling the interlayer distance in stacks of 2D materials remains a challenge. Here we show from first-principles that stacking electrenes-a new class of electron-donating 2D materials-with other 2D materials provides this control.

Intercalation of Layered Materials from Bulk to 2D.

Intercalation in few-layer (2D) materials is a rapidly growing area of research to develop next-generation energy-storage and optoelectronic devices, including batteries, sensors, transistors, and electrically tunable displays. Identifying fundamental differences between intercalation in bulk and 2D materials will play a key role in developing functional devices. Herein, advances in few-layer intercalation are addressed in the historical context of bulk intercalation.

Discontinuities in soil strength contribute to destabilization of nutrient-enriched creeks.

In a whole-ecosystem, nutrient addition experiment in the Plum Island Sound Estuary (Massachusetts), we tested the effects of nitrogen enrichment on the carbon and nitrogen contents, respiration, and strength of marsh soils. We measured soil shear strength within and across vegetation zones. We found significantly higher soil percent organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen in the long-term enriched marshes and higher soil respiration rates with longer duration of enrichment.

Cochlear implantation in children with congenital long QT syndrome: Introduction of an evidence-based pathway of care.

Congenital long QT syndrome (cLQTS) is an inherited cardiac ion channelopathy characterized by a long corrected-QT interval on the ECG, associated with a risk of syncope and sudden death as a result of arrhythmias. The archetypal arrhythmia associated with cLQTS is torsade de pointes which may degenerate into ventricular fibrillation. Children with Jervell and Lange-Neilsen syndrome have the combination of cLQTS and congenital sensorineural deafness and may present for cochlear implantation (CI).

Control of Surface and Edge Oxidation on Phosphorene.

Phosphorene is emerging as an important two-dimensional semiconductor, but controlling the surface chemistry of phosphorene remains a significant challenge. Here, we show that controlled oxidation of phosphorene determines the composition and spatial distribution of the resulting oxide. We used X-ray photoemission spectroscopy to measure the binding energy shifts that accompany oxidation.

Experimental Demonstration of an Electride as a 2D Material.

Because of their loosely bound electrons, electrides offer physical properties useful in chemical synthesis and electronics. For these applications and others, nanosized electrides offer advantages, but to-date no electride has been synthesized as a nanomaterial. We demonstrate experimentally that CaN, a layered electride in which layers of atoms are separated by layers of a 2D electron gas (2DEG), can be exfoliated into two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets using liquid exfoliation.

Saltmarsh plant responses to eutrophication.

In saltmarsh plant communities, bottom-up pressure from nutrient enrichment is predicted to increase productivity, alter community structure, decrease biodiversity, and alter ecosystem functioning. Previous work supporting these predictions has been based largely on short-term, plot-level (e.g.

Chemoelectronic circuits based on metal nanoparticles.

To develop electronic devices with novel functionalities and applications, various non-silicon-based materials are currently being explored. Nanoparticles have unique characteristics due to their small size, which can impart functions that are distinct from those of their bulk counterparts. The use of semiconductor nanoparticles has already led to improvements in the efficiency of solar cells, the processability of transistors and the sensitivity of photodetectors, and the optical and catalytic properties of metal nanoparticles have led to similar advances in plasmonics and energy conversion.

Band Gap Engineering in a 2D Material for Solar-to-Chemical Energy Conversion.

The electronic structure of 2D semiconductors depends on their thickness, providing new opportunities to engineer semiconductors for energy conversion, electronics, and catalysis. Here we show how a 3D semiconductor, black phosphorus, becomes active for solar-to-chemical energy conversion when it is thinned to a 2D material. The increase in its band gap, from 0.

Phosphorene: Synthesis, Scale-Up, and Quantitative Optical Spectroscopy.

Phosphorene, a two-dimensional (2D) monolayer of black phosphorus, has attracted considerable theoretical interest, although the experimental realization of monolayer, bilayer, and few-layer flakes has been a significant challenge. Here, we systematically survey conditions for liquid exfoliation to achieve the first large-scale production of monolayer, bilayer, and few-layer phosphorus, with exfoliation demonstrated at the 10 g scale. We describe a rapid approach for quantifying the thickness of 2D phosphorus and show that monolayer and few-layer flakes produced by our approach are crystalline and unoxidized, while air exposure leads to rapid oxidation and the production of acid.

Tunneling Electrical Connection to the Interior of Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are typically poor electrical conductors, which limits their uses in sensors, fuel cells, batteries, and other applications that require electrically conductive, high surface area materials. Although metal nanoclusters (NCs) are often added to MOFs, the electrical properties of these hybrid materials have not yet been explored. Here, we show that adding NCs to a MOF not only imparts moderate electrical conductivity to an otherwise insulating material but also renders it photoconductive, with conductivity increasing by up to 4 orders of magnitude upon light irradiation.

Featural and temporal attention selectively enhance task-appropriate representations in human primary visual cortex.

Our perceptions are often shaped by focusing our attention towards specific features or periods of time irrespective of location. Here we explore the physiological bases of these non-spatial forms of attention by imaging brain activity while subjects perform a challenging change-detection task. The task employs a continuously varying visual stimulus that, for any moment in time, selectively activates functionally distinct subpopulations of primary visual cortex (V1) neurons.

Storage of electrical information in metal-organic-framework memristors.

Single crystals of a cyclodextrin-based metal-organic framework (MOF) infused with an ionic electrolyte and flanked by silver electrodes act as memristors. They can be electrically switched between low and high conductivity states that persist even in the absence of an applied voltage. In this way, these small blocks of nanoporous sugar function as a non-volatile RRAM memory elements that can be repeatedly read, erased, and re-written.