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    Ultrasmall SnO₂ nanocrystals: hot-bubbling synthesis, encapsulation in carbon layers and applications in high capacity Li-ion storage
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2014) Ding, Liping; He, Shulian; Miao, Shiding; Jorgensen, Matthew R.; Leubner, Susanne; Yan, Chenglin; Hickey, Stephen G.; Eychmüller, Alexander; Xu, Jinzhang; Schmidt, Oliver G.
    Ultrasmall SnO2 nanocrystals as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been synthesized by bubbling an oxidizing gas into hot surfactant solutions containing Sn-oleate complexes. Annealing of the particles in N2 carbonifies the densely packed surface capping ligands resulting in carbon encapsulated SnO2 nanoparticles (SnO2/C). Carbon encapsulation can effectively buffer the volume changes during the lithiation/delithiation process. The assembled SnO2/C thus deliver extraordinarily high reversible capacity of 908 mA·h·g−1 at 0.5 C as well as excellent cycling performance in the LIBs. This method demonstrates the great potential of SnO2/C nanoparticles for the design of high power LIBs.
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    Cation-cation clusters in ionic liquids: Cooperative hydrogen bonding overcomes like-charge repulsion
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2015) Knorr, Anne; Ludwig, Ralf
    Direct spectroscopic evidence for H-bonding between like-charged ions is reported for the ionic liquid, 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate. New infrared bands in the OH frequency range appear at low temperatures indicating the formation of H-bonded cation-cation clusters similar to those known for water and alcohols. Supported by DFT calculations, these vibrational bands can be assigned to attractive interaction between the hydroxyl groups of the cations. The repulsive Coulomb interaction is overcome by cooperative hydrogen bonding between ions of like charge. The transition energy from purely cation-anion interacting configurations to those including cation-cation H-bonds is determined to be 3–4 kJmol−1. The experimental findings and DFT calculations strongly support the concept of anti-electrostatic hydrogen bonds (AEHBs) as recently suggested by Weinhold and Klein. The like-charge configurations are kinetically stabilized with decreasing temperatures.
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    Genotyping of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus from the United Arab Emirates
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2020) Senok, Abiola; Nassar, Rania; Celiloglu, Handan; Nabi, Anju; Alfaresi, Mubarak; Weber, Stefan; Rizvi, Irfan; Müller, Elke; Reissig, Annett; Gawlik, Darius; Monecke, Stefan; Ehricht, Ralf
    Reports from Arabian Gulf countries have demonstrated emergence of novel methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains. To address the lack of data from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), genetic characterisation of MRSA identified between December 2017 and August 2019 was conducted using DNA microarray-based assays. The 625 MRSA isolates studied were grouped into 23 clonal complexes (CCs) and assigned to 103 strains. CC5, CC6, CC22 and CC30 represented 54.2% (n/N = 339/625) of isolates with other common CCs being CC1, CC8, CC772, CC361, CC80, CC88. Emergence of CC398 MRSA, CC5-MRSA-IV Sri Lanka Clone and ST5/ST225-MRSA-II, Rhine-Hesse EMRSA/New York-Japan Clone in our setting was detected. Variants of pandemic CC8-MRSA-[IVa + ACME I] (PVL+) USA300 were detected and majority of CC772 strains were CC772-MRSA-V (PVL+), “Bengal- Bay Clone”. Novel MRSA strains identified include CC5-MRSA-V (edinA+), CC5-MRSA-[VT + fusC], CC5-MRSA-IVa (tst1+), CC5-MRSA-[V/VT + cas + fusC + ccrA/B-1], CC8-MRSA-V/VT, CC22-MRSA-[IV + fusC + ccrAA/(C)], CC45-MRSA-[IV + fusC + tir], CC80-MRSA-IVa, CC121-MRSA-V/VT, CC152-MRSA-[V + fusC] (PVL+). Although several strains harboured SCC-borne fusidic acid resistance (fusC) (n = 181), erythromycin/clindamycin resistance (ermC) (n = 132) and gentamicin resistance (aacA-aphD) (n = 179) genes, none harboured vancomycin resistance genes while mupirocin resistance gene mupR (n = 2) and cfr gene (n = 1) were rare. An extensive MRSA repertoire including CCs previously unreported in the region and novel strains which probably arose locally suggest an evolving MRSA landscape. © 2020, The Author(s).
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    Modified wavelet analysis of ECoG-pattern as promising tool for detection of the blood–brain barrier leakage
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Runnova, Anastasiya; Zhuravlev, Maksim; Ukolov, Rodion; Blokhina, Inna; Dubrovski, Alexander; Lezhnev, Nikita; Sitnikova, Evgeniya; Saranceva, Elena; Kiselev, Anton; Karavaev, Anatoly; Selskii, Anton; Semyachkina-Glushkovskaya, Oxana; Penzel, Thomas; Kurths, Jurgen
    A new approach for detection oscillatory patterns and estimation of their dynamics based by a modified CWT skeleton method is presented. The method opens up additional perspectives for the analysis of subtle changes in the oscillatory activity of complex nonstationary signals. The method was applied to analyze unique experimental signals obtained in usual conditions and after the non-invasive increase in the blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability in 10 male Wistar rats. The results of the wavelet-analysis of electrocorticography (ECoG) recorded in a normal physiological state and after an increase in the BBB permeability of animals demonstrate significant changes between these states during wakefulness of animals and an essential smoothing of these differences during sleep. Sleep is closely related to the processes of observed changes in the BBB permeability.
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    Magnetic domain wall gratings for magnetization reversal tuning and confined dynamic mode localization
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2016) Trützschler, Julia; Sentosun, Kadir; Mozooni, Babak; Mattheis, Roland; McCord, Jeffrey
    High density magnetic domain wall gratings are imprinted in ferromagnetic-antiferromagnetic thin films by local ion irradiation by which alternating head-to-tail-to-head-to-tail and head-to-head-to-tail-to-tail spatially overlapping domain wall networks are formed. Unique magnetic domain processes result from the interaction of anchored domain walls. Non-linear magnetization response is introduced by the laterally distributed magnetic anisotropy phases. The locally varying magnetic charge distribution gives rise to localized and guided magnetization spin-wave modes directly constrained by the narrow domain wall cores. The exchange coupled multiphase material structure leads to unprecedented static and locally modified dynamic magnetic material properties.
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    Abrupt sand-dune accumulation at the northeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau challenges the wet MIS3a inferred from numerous lake-highstands
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2016) Long, Hao; Fuchs, Markus; Yang, Linhai; Cheng, Hongyi
    We report on hollow shell-shell nanogels with two polymer shells that have different volume phase transition temperatures. By means of small angle neutron scattering (SANS) employing contrast variation and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations we show that hollow shell-shell nanocontainers are ideal systems for controlled drug delivery: The temperature responsive swelling of the inner shell controls the uptake and release, while the thermoresponsive swelling of the outer shell controls the size of the void and the colloidal stability. At temperatures between 32 °C < T < 42 °C, the hollow nanocontainers provide a significant void, which is even larger than the initial core size of the template and they possess a high colloidal stability due to the steric stabilization of the swollen outer shell. Computer simulations showed, that temperature induced switching of the permeability of the inner shell allows for the encapsulation in and release of molecules from the cavity.
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    Worldwide variations in artificial skyglow
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2015) Kyba, Christopher C.M.; Tong, Kai Pong; Bennie, Jonathan; Birriel, Ignacio; Birriel, Jennifer J.; Cool, Andrew; Danielsen, Arne; Davies, Thomas W.; den Outer, Peter N.; Edwards, William; Ehlert, Rainer; Falchi, Fabio; Fischer, Jürgen; Giacomelli, Andrea; Giubbilini, Francesco; Haaima, Marty; Hesse, Claudia; Heygster, Georg; Hölker, Franz; Inger, Richard; Jensen, Linsey J.; Kuechly, Helga U.; Kuehn, John; Langill, Phil; Lolkema, Dorien E.; Nagy, Matthew; Nievas, Miguel; Ochi, Nobuaki; Popow, Emil; Posch, Thomas; Puschnig, Johannes; Ruhtz, Thomas; Schmidt, Wim; Schwarz, Robert; Schwope, Axel; Spoelstra, Henk; Tekatch, Anthony; Trueblood, Mark; Walker, Constance E.; Weber, Michael; Welch, Douglas L.; Zamorano, Jaime; Gaston, Kevin J.
    Despite constituting a widespread and significant environmental change, understanding of artificial nighttime skyglow is extremely limited. Until now, published monitoring studies have been local or regional in scope and typically of short duration. In this first major international compilation of monitoring data we answer several key questions about skyglow properties. Skyglow is observed to vary over four orders of magnitude, a range hundreds of times larger than was the case before artificial light. Nearly all of the study sites were polluted by artificial light. A non-linear relationship is observed between the sky brightness on clear and overcast nights, with a change in behavior near the rural to urban landuse transition. Overcast skies ranged from a third darker to almost 18 times brighter than clear. Clear sky radiances estimated by the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness were found to be overestimated by ~25%; our dataset will play an important role in the calibration and ground truthing of future skyglow models. Most of the brightly lit sites darkened as the night progressed, typically by ~5% per hour. The great variation in skyglow radiance observed from site-to-site and with changing meteorological conditions underlines the need for a long-term international monitoring program.
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    Author Correction: Influence of plasma treatment on SiO2/Si and Si3N4/Si substrates for large-scale transfer of graphene
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Lukose, R.; Lisker, M.; Akhtar, F.; Fraschke, M.; Grabolla, T.; Mai, A.; Lukosius, M.
    The original version of this Article omitted an affiliation for M. Lisker. The correct affiliations for M. Lisker are listed below: IHP- Leibniz Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236, Frankfurt (Oder), Germany Technical University of Applied Science Wildau, Hochschulring 1, 15745, Wildau, Germany The original Article and accompanying Supplementary Information file have been corrected.
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    Feature Adaptive Sampling for Scanning Electron Microscopy
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2016) Dahmen, Tim; Engstler, Michael; Pauly, Christoph; Trampert, Patrick; de Jonge, Niels; Mücklich, Frank; Slusallek, Philipp
    A new method for the image acquisition in scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was introduced. The method used adaptively increased pixel-dwell times to improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) in areas of high detail. In areas of low detail, the electron dose was reduced on a per pixel basis and a-posteriori image processing techniques were applied to remove the resulting noise. The technique was realized by scanning the sample twice. The first, quick scan used small pixel-dwell times to generate a first, noisy image using a low electron dose. This image was analyzed automatically and a software algorithm generated a sparse pattern of regions of the image that require additional sampling. A second scan generated a sparse image of only these regions, but using a highly increased electron dose. By applying a selective low-pass filter and combining both datasets, a single image was generated. The resulting image exhibited a factor of ≈3 better SNR than an image acquired with uniform sampling on a Cartesian grid and the same total acquisition time. This result implies that the required electron dose (or acquisition time) for the adaptive scanning method is a factor of ten lower than for uniform scanning.
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    Stable coherent mode-locking based on π pulse formation in single-section lasers
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2021) Arkhipov, Rostislav; Pakhomov, Anton; Arkhipov, Mikhail; Babushkin, Ihar; Rosanov, Nikolay
    Here we consider coherent mode-locking (CML) regimes in single-section cavity lasers, taking place for pulse durations less than atomic population and phase relaxation times, which arise due to coherent Rabi oscillations of the atomic inversion. Typically, CML is introduced for lasers with two sections, the gain and absorber ones. Here we show that, for certain combination of the cavity length and relaxation parameters, a very stable CML in a laser, containing only gain section, may arise. The mode-locking is unconditionally self-starting and appears due to balance of intra-pulse de-excitation and slow interpulse-scale pump-induced relaxation processes. We also discuss the scaling of the system to shorter pulse durations, showing a possibility of mode-locking for few-cycle pulses.