A study of the growth, structure determination, and electronic properties of spiro-OMeTAD single crystals.

Lanthanide complexes of europium and terbium ions with hydrogen phthalate [Eu(Hphth) 3 and Tb(Hphth) 3 , respectively, Hphth ) hydrogen phthalate] were incorporated into poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) matrix. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results showed that the lanthanide complexes, with a mean diameter about 8.0 nm, were dispersed homogeneously in the PVP matrix. The excitation of the Ln(Hphth) 3 -PVP system by UV light resulted in a ligand-to-metal energy transfer and the emission spectra of the complexes displayed characteristic luminescence of the central ions. PVP significantly affected the strength of the hypersensitive transitions ( 5 D 0 f 7 F 2 for Eu 3+ , and 5 D 4 f 7 F 5 for Tb 3+ ) of the complexes. For the mixed complexes containing both Eu 3+ and Tb 3+ as central ions, the luminescent intensity was strongly dependent upon the ratio of the lanthanide ions. Trace amount of Eu 3+ quenched the luminescence of the Tb 3+ , whereas the presence of Tb 3+ enhanced the luminescence of the Eu 3+ , thus demonstrating an important feature of energy transfer from terbium to europium in the mixed complexes.

Background:Wernicke’s concept of ‘sejunction’ or aberrant associations among specialized brain regions is one of the earliest hypotheses attempting to explain the myriad of symptoms in psychotic disorders. Unbiased data mining of all possible brain-wide connections in large data sets is an essential first step in localizing these aberrant circuits.Methods:We analyzed functional connectivity using the largest resting-state neuroimaging data set reported to date in the schizophrenia literature (415 patients vs. 405 controls from UK, USA, Taiwan, and China). An exhaustive brain-wide association study at both regional and voxel-based levels enabled a continuous data-driven discovery of the key aberrant circuits in schizophrenia.Results:Results identify the thalamus as the key hub for altered functional networks in patients. Increased thalamus–primary somatosensory cortex connectivity was the most significant aberration in schizophrenia (P=10−18). Overall, a number of thalamic links with motor and sensory cortical regions showed increased connectivity in schizophrenia, whereas thalamo–frontal connectivity was weakened. Network changes were correlated with symptom severity and illness duration, and support vector machine analysis revealed discrimination accuracies of 73.53–80.92%.Conclusions:Widespread alterations in resting-state thalamocortical functional connectivity is likely to be a core feature of schizophrenia that contributes to the extensive sensory, motor, cognitive, and emotional impairments in this disorder. Changes in this schizophrenia-associated network could be a reliable mechanistic index to discriminate patients from healthy controls.

Two series of Ag‐doped AgxAu25‐x nanoclusters are prepared by two different routes.

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