Magic ratios for connectivity-driven electrical conductance of graphene-like molecules

Experiments using a mechanically-controlled break junction and calculations based on density functional theory demonstrate a new magic ratio rule (MRR),which captures the contribution of connectivity to the electrical conductance of graphene-like aromatic molecules. When one electrode is connected to a site i and the other is connected to a site i' of a particular molecule, we assign the molecule a magic integer Mii'. Two molecules with the same aromatic core, but different pairs of electrode connection sites (i,i' and j,j' respectively) possess different magic integers Mii' and Mjj'. Based on connectivity alone, we predict that when the coupling to electrodes is weak and the Fermi energy of the electrodes lies close to the centre of the HOMO-LUMO gap, the ratio of their conductances is equal to (Mii' /Mjj')2. The MRR is exact for a tight binding representation of a molecule and a qualitative guide for real molecules

Development and Characterization of Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers (SSRs) for an Endemic Plant, Pseudolarix amabilis (Nelson) Rehd. (Pinaceae)

Pseudolarix (Pinaceae) is a vulnerable (sensu IUCN) monotypic genus restricted to southeastern China. To better understand levels of genetic diversity, population structure and gene flow among populations of P. amabilis, we developed five compound SSR markers and ten novel polymorphic expressed sequence tags (EST) derived microsatellites. The results showed that all 15 loci were polymorphic with the number of alleles per locus ranging from two to seven. The expected and observed heterozygosities varied from 0.169 to 0.752, and 0.000 to 1.000, respectively. The inbreeding coefficient ranged from −0.833 to 1.000. These markers will contribute to research on genetic diversity and population genetic structure of P. amabilis, which in turn will contribute to the species conservation

Possible Luttinger liquid behavior of edge transport in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide crystals.

In atomically-thin two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors, the nonuniformity in current flow due to its edge states may alter and even dictate the charge transport properties of the entire device. However, the influence of the edge states on electrical transport in 2D materials has not been sufficiently explored to date. Here, we systematically quantify the edge state contribution to electrical transport in monolayer MoS2/WSe2 field-effect transistors, revealing that the charge transport at low temperature is dominated by the edge conduction with the nonlinear behavior. The metallic edge states are revealed by scanning probe microscopy, scanning Kelvin probe force microscopy and first-principle calculations. Further analyses demonstrate that the edge-state dominated nonlinear transport shows a universal power-law scaling relationship with both temperature and bias voltage, which can be well explained by the 1D Luttinger liquid theory. These findings demonstrate the Luttinger liquid behavior in 2D materials and offer important insights into designing 2D electronics

Effective model and s±s_\pm-wave superconductivity in trilayer nickelate La4_4Ni3_3O10_{10}

The recent discovery of bulk superconductivity in trilayer nickelate La$_4$Ni$_3$O$_{10}$ with the critical temperature $T_c$ near $30$K under high pressure is attracting a new wave of research interest, after the breakthrough of bilayer La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$ with $T_c$ near $80$K. The similarities and differences of electronic structure and superconducting mechanism in these two systems are urgent theoretical issues. In this Letter, we study the electronic band structure and construct a minimal trilayer tight-binding model for the high-pressure phase of La$_4$Ni$_3$O$_{10}$ in terms of the nickel $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ and $3d_{3z^2-r^2}$ orbitals, and study the superconducting mechanism due to local Coulomb interactions by the unbiased functional renormalization group. We find antiferromagnetic correlations between the outer layers instead of neighboring ones, apart from the inplane correlations. The effective interaction induces Cooper pairing with the $s_\pm$-wave symmetry, which changes sign across the Fermi pockets. We find $T_c$ in La$_4$Ni$_3$O$_{10}$ is systematically lower than that in La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$, and electron doping can enhance $T_c$.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 tabl

Sustainability Assessment of Marine Economy in China: Spatial Distributions of Marine Environmental Governance Entities in Shanghai

The amount of investment in marine environmental governance (MEG) is growing fast in China, which brought the prosperity of environmental treatment entities (e.g., water treatment enterprises and port pollution control institutions). Based on spatial big data, this paper adopted kernel density method, standard deviational ellipse, and nearest neighbor index to explore the spatial distribution pattern of MEG entities in Shanghai from 2005 to 2021. Several conclusions emerged from this study: (1) From 2005 to 2021, the new MEG entities in Shanghai have increased by more than 10 times; (2) The analysis showed that the nearest neighbor index of Shanghai’s MEG entities was larger than 0.2, with Z values all being lower than −30, indicating that the spatial agglomeration characteristics in Shanghai was significant at an alpha level of 1%. (3) Chongming District, Pudong New District, Fengxian District, and Minhang District were the core agglomeration areas. (4) The standard deviational ellipse analysis suggested that the distribution of Shanghai MEG entities from 2005 to 2021 showed an obvious pattern of spreading from the center to both the north and south. This results in an industrial belt along the Huangpu River. This paper argues that the spatial distribution of MEG entities in Shanghai confirms the central place theory, which highlights the network characteristics that combine centrality with spreading to the surrounding areas

Hydrogen Sulfide Protects HUVECs against Hydrogen Peroxide Induced Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Oxidative Stress

10.1371/journal.pone.0053147PLoS ONE82

CTC clusters induced by heparanase enhance breast cancer metastasis.

Aggregated metastatic cancer cells, referred to as circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters, are present in the blood of cancer patients and contribute to cancer metastasis. However, the origin of CTC clusters, especially intravascular aggregates, remains unknown. Here, we employ suspension culture methods to mimic CTC cluster formation in the circulation of breast cancer patients. CTC clusters generated using these methods exhibited an increased metastatic potential that was defined by the overexpression of heparanase (HPSE). Heparanase induced FAK- and ICAM-1-dependent cell adhesion, which promoted intravascular cell aggregation. Moreover, knockdown of heparanase or inhibition of its activity with JG6, a heparanase inhibitor, was sufficient to block the formation of cell clusters and suppress breast cancer metastasis. Our data reveal that heparanase-mediated cell adhesion is critical for metastasis mediated by intravascular CTC clusters. We also suggest that targeting the function of heparanase in cancer cell dissemination might limit metastatic progression