The Role of Letter-Speech Sound Integration in Native and Second Language Reading: A Study in Native Japanese Readers Learning English.

The automatic activation of letter-speech sound (L-SS) associations is a vital step in typical reading acquisition. However, the contribution of L-SS integration during nonalphabetic native and alphabetic second language (L2) reading remains unclear. This study explored whether L-SS integration plays a similar role in a nonalphabetic language as in alphabetic languages and its contribution to L2 reading among native Japanese-speaking adults with varying English proficiency. A priming paradigm in Japanese and English was performed by presenting visual letters or symbols, followed by auditory sounds. We compared behavioral and event-related responses elicited by congruent letter-sound pairs, incongruent pairs, and baseline condition (symbol-sound pairs). The behavioral experiment revealed shorter RTs in the congruent condition for Japanese and English tasks, suggesting a facilitation effect of congruency. The ERP experiment results showed an increased early N1 response to Japanese congruent pairs compared to corresponding incongruent stimuli at the left frontotemporal electrodes. Interestingly, advanced English learners exhibited greater activities in bilateral but predominantly right-lateralized frontotemporal regions for the congruent condition within the N1 time window. Moreover, the enhancement of P2 response to congruent pairs was observed in intermediate English learners. These findings indicate that, despite deviations from native language processing, advanced speakers may successfully integrate letters and sounds during English reading, whereas intermediate learners may encounter difficulty in achieving L-SS integration when reading L2. Furthermore, our results suggest that L2 proficiency may affect the level of automaticity in L-SS integration, with the right P2 congruency effect playing a compensatory role for intermediate learners.

An Analytical Method for Elastic Modulus of the Sandwich BCC Lattice Structure Based on Assumption of Linear Distribution.

An analytical method to predict the elastic modulus of the sandwich body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice structure is presented on the basis of the assumption of a linearly changing elastic modulus. In the constrained region, the maximum of elastic modulus used the elastic moduli of the BCC lattice element with plate constraints and is calculated with Timoshenko beam theory, the minimum used without plate constraints. In the rest of the constrained region, a linear function along the thickness direction is proposed to calculate elastic modulus. The elastic modulus of the unconstrained region is constant and it is the same as the minimum of the constrained region. The elastic modulus of the whole sandwich BCC lattice structure can be calculated theoretically with the elastic modulus of the constrained and unconstrained regions and a single-layer slice integration method. Six kinds of sandwich BCC lattice structures with different geometric parameters are designed and made by resin 3D printing technology, and the elastic moduli are measured. By comparing the predictions of the elastic modulus using the proposed analytical method and existing method with experimental results, the errors between the results of the existing method and the experimental results varied from 10.3% to 24.7%, and the errors between the results of the proposed method and the experimental results varied from 1.6% to 7.4%, proving that the proposed method is more accurate than the existing methods.

In situ enzymatic ascorbic acid production as electron donor for CdS quantum dots equipped TiO2 nanotubes: a general and efficient approach for new photoelectrochemical immunoassay.

In this work, a novel photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunoanalysis format was developed for sensitive and specific detection of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) based on an in situ electron donor producing approach. Thioglycolic acid-capped CdS quantum dots (QDs) equipped TiO(2) nanotubes (NTs) were fabricated via a facile electrostatic adsorption method. The coupling of CdS QDs and TiO(2) NTs results in an enhanced excitation and photo-to-electric conversion efficiency. Using alkaline phosphatase catalytic chemistry to in situ generate ascorbic acid for electron donating, an exquisite immunosandwich protocol was successfully constructed for the PSA assay due to the dependence of the photocurrent signal on the concentration of electron donor. This work opens a different perspective for transducer design in PEC detection and provides a general format for future development of PEC immunoanalysis.

Activating cobalt(II) oxide nanorods for efficient electrocatalysis by strain engineering.

Designing high-performance and cost-effective electrocatalysts toward oxygen evolution and hydrogen evolution reactions in water-alkali electrolyzers is pivotal for large-scale and sustainable hydrogen production. Earth-abundant transition metal oxide-based catalysts are particularly active for oxygen evolution reaction; however, they are generally considered inactive toward hydrogen evolution reaction. Here, we show that strain engineering of the outermost surface of cobalt(II) oxide nanorods can turn them into efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction. They are competitive with the best electrocatalysts for this reaction in alkaline media so far. Our theoretical and experimental results demonstrate that the tensile strain strongly couples the atomic, electronic structure properties and the activity of the cobalt(II) oxide surface, which results in the creation of a large quantity of oxygen vacancies that facilitate water dissociation, and fine tunes the electronic structure to weaken hydrogen adsorption toward the optimum region.

Engineering surface atomic structure of single-crystal cobalt (II) oxide nanorods for superior electrocatalysis.

Engineering the surface structure at the atomic level can be used to precisely and effectively manipulate the reactivity and durability of catalysts. Here we report tuning of the atomic structure of one-dimensional single-crystal cobalt (II) oxide (CoO) nanorods by creating oxygen vacancies on pyramidal nanofacets. These CoO nanorods exhibit superior catalytic activity and durability towards oxygen reduction/evolution reactions. The combined experimental studies, microscopic and spectroscopic characterization, and density functional theory calculations reveal that the origins of the electrochemical activity of single-crystal CoO nanorods are in the oxygen vacancies that can be readily created on the oxygen-terminated {111} nanofacets, which favourably affect the electronic structure of CoO, assuring a rapid charge transfer and optimal adsorption energies for intermediates of oxygen reduction/evolution reactions. These results show that the surface atomic structure engineering is important for the fabrication of efficient and durable electrocatalysts.