The investigation of dysregulated visual perceptual organization in adults with autism spectrum disorders with phase-amplitude coupling and directed connectivity.

Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) has been used as a powerful tool to understand the mechanism underlying neural binding by investigating neural synchrony across different frequency bands. This study examined the possibility that dysregulated alpha-gamma modulation may be crucially involved in aberrant brain functioning in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Magnetoencephalographic data were recorded from 13 adult participants with ASD and 16 controls.

Tumor diagnosis using carbon-based quantum dots: Detection based on the hallmarks of cancer.

Carbon-based quantum dots (CQDs) have been shown to have promising application value in tumor diagnosis. Their use, however, is severely hindered by the complicated nature of the nanostructures in the CQDs. Furthermore, it seems impossible to formulate the mechanisms involved using the inadequate theoretical frameworks that are currently available for CQDs.

Fluctuating magnetic droplets immersed in a sea of quantum spin liquid.

The search of quantum spin liquid (QSL), an exotic magnetic state with strongly fluctuating and highly entangled spins down to zero temperature, is a main theme in current condensed matter physics. However, there is no smoking gun evidence for deconfined spinons in any QSL candidate so far. The disorders and competing exchange interactions may prevent the formation of an ideal QSL state on frustrated spin lattices.

Water-Induced Bandgap Engineering in Nanoribbons of Hexagonal Boron Nitride.

Different from hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) sheets, the bandgap of hBN nanoribbons (BNNRs) can be changed by spatial/electrostatic confinement. It is predicted that a transverse electric field can narrow the bandgap and even cause an insulator-metal transition in BNNRs. However, experimentally introducing an overhigh electric field across the BNNR remains challenging.

Layer-Dependent Magnetic Structure and Anomalous Hall Effect in the Magnetic Topological Insulator MnBiTe.

The intrinsic antiferromagnetic topological insulator (TI) MnBiTe provides a capacious playground for the realization of topological quantum phenomena, such as the axion insulator states and quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect. In addition to nontrivial band topology, magnetism is another necessary ingredient for realizing these quantum phenomena. Here, we investigate signatures of thickness-dependent magnetism in exfoliated MnBiTe thin flakes.

Significant Unconventional Anomalous Hall Effect in Heavy Metal/Antiferromagnetic Insulator Heterostructures.

The anomalous Hall effect (AHE) is a quantum coherent transport phenomenon that conventionally vanishes at elevated temperatures because of thermal dephasing. Therefore, it is puzzling that the AHE can survive in heavy metal (HM)/antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulator (AFMI) heterostructures at high temperatures yet disappears at low temperatures. In this paper, an unconventional high-temperature AHE in HM/AFMI is observed only around the Néel temperature of AFM, with large anomalous Hall resistivity up to 40 nΩ cm is reported.

Increasing coverage of mono-layer graphene grown on hexagonal boron nitride.

Graphene sitting on hexagonal boron nitride (-BN) always exhibits excellent electrical properties. And the properties of graphene on-BN are often dominated by its domain size and boundaries. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a promising approach to achieve large size graphene crystal.

Emergent charge order in pressurized kagome superconductor CsVSb.

The discovery of several electronic orders in kagome superconductors AVSb (A means K, Rb, Cs) provides a promising platform for exploring unprecedented emergent physics. Under moderate pressure (<2.2 GPa), the triple-Q charge density wave (CDW) order is monotonically suppressed by pressure, while the superconductivity shows a two-dome-like behaviour, suggesting an unusual interplay between superconductivity and CDW order.

Manipulating high-temperature superconductivity by oxygen doping in BiSrCaCuO thin flakes.

Harnessing the fascinating properties of correlated oxides requires precise control of their carrier density. Compared to other methods, oxygen doping provides an effective and more direct way to tune the electronic properties of correlated oxides. Although several approaches, such as thermal annealing and oxygen migration, have been introduced to change the oxygen content, a continuous and reversible solution that can be integrated with modern electronic technology is much in demand.

Tetrahedral DNA framework based CRISPR electrochemical biosensor for amplification-free miRNA detection.

microRNA (miRNA) is a kind of small non-coding RNA that has been regarded as potential biomarkers for cancers. Sensitive and specific detection of miRNA at low expression levels is highly desirable but remains challenging, especially for amplification-free and portable point of care (POC) diagnostics. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas13a has been recently discovered and used in the field of RNA detection.

Minimizing the Programming Power of Phase Change Memory by Using Graphene Nanoribbon Edge-Contact.

Nonvolatile phase-change random access memory (PCRAM) is regarded as one of the promising candidates for emerging mass storage in the era of Big Data. However, relatively high programming energy hurdles the further reduction of power consumption in PCRAM. Utilizing narrow edge-contact of graphene can effectively reduce the active volume of phase change material in each cell, and therefore realize low-power operation.

Synergistic Effect of Oxygen- and Nitrogen-Containing Groups in Graphene Quantum Dots: Red Emitted Dual-Mode Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agents with High Relaxivity.

Contrast agents (CAs) in magnetic resonance imaging generally involve the dissociative Gd. Because of the limited ligancy of Gd, the balance between Gd coordination stability (reducing the concentration of dissociative Gd) and increases in the number of coordination water molecules (enhancing the relaxivity) becomes crucial. Herein, the key factor of the synergistic effect between the O- and N-containing groups of graphene quantum dots for the structural design of CAs with both high relaxivity and low toxicity was obtained.

Evidence for isotropic s-wave superconductivity in high-entropy alloys.

High-entropy alloys (HEA) form through the random arrangement of five or more chemical elements on a crystalline lattice. Despite the significant amount of resulting compositional disorder, a subset of HEAs enters a superconducting state below critical temperatures, [Formula: see text] K. The superconducting properties of the known HEAs seem to suffice a Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) description, but little is known about their superconducting order parameter and the microscopic role of disorder.

Designer tetrahedral DNA framework-based microfluidic technology for multivalent capture and release of circulating tumor cells.

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been recognized as a general biomarker for the early detection, diagnosis and therapy monitoring of cancer. Due to their extreme rarity in peripheral blood, the isolation and analysis of CTCs with high efficiency, high purity and high viability remains a tremendous technological challenge. Herein, we combined tetrahedral DNA framework (TDFs), herringbone channel (HB) chip, together with aptamer-triggered hybridization chain reaction (apt-HCR) to develop an efficient microfluidic system (T-μFS) for capture and release of simulated CTCs.

A new class of bilayer kagome lattice compounds with Dirac nodal lines and pressure-induced superconductivity.

Kagome lattice composed of transition-metal ions provides a great opportunity to explore the intertwining between geometry, electronic orders and band topology. The discovery of multiple competing orders that connect intimately with the underlying topological band structure in nonmagnetic kagome metals AVSb (A = K, Rb, Cs) further pushes this topic to the quantum frontier. Here we report a new class of vanadium-based compounds with kagome bilayers, namely AVSb (A = K, Rb, Cs) and VSb, which, together with AVSb, compose a series of kagome compounds with a generic chemical formula (ASb)(VSb) (m = 1, 2; n = 1, 2).

Giant Negative Magnetoresistance beyond Chiral Anomaly in Topological Material YCuAs.

The large negative magnetoresistance (MR) effect, which usually emerges in various magnetic systems, is a technologically important property for spintronics. Recently, the so-called "chiral anomaly" in topological semimetals offers an alternative to generate a considerable negative MR effect without utilizing magnetism. However, it requires that the applied magnetic field must be strictly along the electric current direction, which sets a strong limit for practical applications.

A designer DNA tetrahedron-based molecular beacon for tumor-related microRNA fluorescence imaging in living cells.

The accurate and effective imaging of tumor-related miRNA in living cells has been playing an increasingly important role in cancer imaging. However, due to the low miRNA content and complex intracellular microenvironment, the current imaging methods of miRNAs in living cells still have some limitations. In this work, we developed a designer nanoprobe of tetrahedral DNA framework (TDF) combined with MB (termed TDFM nanoprobe) for the efficient fluorescence imaging of tumor-related miRNA-214 in living cells.

Tetrahedral DNA Framework-Programmed Electrochemical Biosenors with Gold Nanoparticles for Ultrasensitive Cell-Free DNA Detection.

Tumor-associated cell-free DNA (cfDNA) is a dynamic biomarker for genetic analysis, early diagnosis and clinical treatment of cancers. However, its detection has limitations because of its low abundance in blood or other complex bodily fluids. Herein, we developed an ultrasensitive cfDNA electrochemical biosensor (E-cfDNA sensor) based on tetrahedral DNA framework (TDF)-modified gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with an interface for cfDNA detection.

Cubic DNA nanocage-based three-dimensional molecular beacon for accurate detection of exosomal miRNAs in confined spaces.

In situ nondestructive bioanalysis of targets in nanoscale confined space, e.g. exosomes, poses a high challenge to analytical technologies, especially to molecular fluorescent probes, because it is required to enter the confined space to recognize the target, and maintain independent and stable signal output.

Charge-density-wave-driven electronic nematicity in a kagome superconductor.

Electronic nematicity, in which rotational symmetry is spontaneously broken by electronic degrees of freedom, has been demonstrated as a ubiquitous phenomenon in correlated quantum fluids including high-temperature superconductors and quantum Hall systems. Notably, the electronic nematicity in high-temperature superconductors exhibits an intriguing entanglement with superconductivity, generating complicated superconducting pairing and intertwined electronic orders. Recently, an unusual competition between superconductivity and a charge-density-wave (CDW) order has been found in the AVSb (A = K, Rb, Cs) family with two-dimensional vanadium kagome nets.

Poly-adenine-mediated spherical nucleic acid probes for live cell fluorescence imaging of tumor-related microRNAs.

Background: Accurately detecting and quantifying tumor-related microRNAs (miRNAs) in living cells is of great value for early cancer diagnosis. Herein, we present poly-adenine (polyA)-mediated spherical nucleic acid (SNA) nanoprobes for intracellular miRNA imaging in living cells.

Methods And Results: polyA-mediated spherical nucleic acid (pASNA) nanoprobes consist of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) anchored with fluorophore-labeled DNA molecules pre-hybridized with recognition sequences and polyA tails.

Fluorination Triggers Fluoroalkylation: Nucleophilic Perfluoro-tert-butylation with 1,1-Dibromo-2,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)ethylene (DBBF) and CsF.

Perfluoro-tert-butylation reaction has long remained a challenging task. We now report the use of 1,1-dibromo-2,2-bis(trifluoromethyl)ethylene (DBBF) as a practical reagent for perfluoro-tert-butylation reactions for the first time. Through a consecutive triple-fluorination process with DBBF and CsF, the (CF ) C species can be liberated and observed, which is able to serve as a robust nucleophilic perfluoro-tert-butylating agent for various electrophiles.

A double-tetrahedral DNA framework based electrochemical biosensor for ultrasensitive detection and release of circulating tumor cells.

Detecting circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in patients' blood is essential for early diagnosis, precise treatment and prognosis of cancer. Yet due to CTCs being extremely rare in the peripheral blood of patients, it is still a challenge to detect CTCs with high sensitivity and high selectivity. Here, we developed a double-tetrahedral DNA framework (DTDF) based electrochemical biosensor system (E-CTC sensor system) for ultrasensitive detection and release of CTCs.