Life history strategy dictates thermal preferences across the diel cycle and in response to starvation in variable field crickets, Gryllus lineaticeps.

Insects behaviorally thermoregulate across the diel cycle, and their preferred microhabitats change based on current resources available and the thermal performance optima of traits. Specific combinations of traits being prioritized are set by life history strategies, making life history an important intrinsic determinant of thermal preferences. However, we do not know how life history strategies shape plasticity of behavioral thermoregulation, limiting our ability to predict responses to environmental variability. We compared female variable field crickets (Gryllus lineaticeps) that are flight-capable (long-winged) and flightless (short-winged) to test the hypothesis that life history strategy determines plasticity of thermal preferences across the diel cycle and following starvation. Thermal preferences were elevated during the nocturnal activity period, and long-winged crickets preferred warmer temperatures compared to short-winged crickets across the diel cycle when fully fed. However, thermal preferences of starved crickets were reduced compared to fed crickets. The reduction in thermal preferences was greater in long-winged crickets, resulting in similar thermal preferences between starved long- and short-winged individuals and reflecting a more plastic response. Thus, life history does determine plasticity in thermoregulatory behaviors following resource limitations and effects of life history on thermal preferences are context dependent.

Embryonic and post-embryonic responses to high-elevation hypoxia in a low-elevation lizard.

Low-elevation species can migrate toward higher elevations to survive in a warming world. However, animals' responses to hypoxia when migrating to high elevations have rarely been addressed. To identify the response of low-elevation lizards to high-elevation hypoxia, we collected field body temperatures (Tfb ) and operative temperatures (Te ) of lizards (Eremias argus) from a low-elevation population (1036 m) and a high-elevation population (2036 m), and then determined adult thermal physiology, embryonic development, and hatchling phenotypes after acclimating low-elevation lizards and incubating their eggs in conditions mimicking the low-elevation oxygen condition (18.5% O2 ) and high-elevation oxygen (hypoxic) condition (16.5% O2 ). Our study revealed that Tfb and Te were higher for the low-elevation population compared to the high-elevation population. We also found adults from low elevation acclimated to hypoxia preferred lower body temperatures, but did not show changes in locomotor performance or growth. In addition, hypoxia did not affect embryonic development (hatching time and success) or hatchling phenotypes (body size and locomotor performance). These results suggest that adult lizards from low elevations can respond to hypoxia-induced stress when migrating to high elevations by behaviorally thermoregulating to lower body temperatures in order to sustain normal functions. Similarly, low-elevation embryos can develop normally (with unchanged hatching success and offspring phenotypes) under the high-elevation hypoxic condition. This study highlights that low-elevation populations of a species that inhabits a range of elevations can buffer the impact of high-elevation hypoxic conditions to some degree and thus attain similar fitness to the source population.

Nonvolatile optically-erased colloidal memristors.

A nonconjugated methacrylate terpolymer containing carbazole moieties (electron donors), 1,3,4-oxadiazole moieties (electron acceptors), and Coumarin-6 in the pendant groups was synthesized via free radical copolymerization of methacrylate monomers containing the respective functional groups. The terpolymer was formed into 57 nm particles through a mini-emulsion route. For a thin 100 nm film of the fused particles sandwiched between an indium-tin oxide (ITO) electrode and an Al electrode, the structure behaved as a nonvolatile flash (rewritable) memory with accessible electronic states that could be written, read, and optically erased. The device exhibited a turn-on voltage of ca. -4.5 VDC and a 10(6) current ratio. A device in the ON high conductance state could be reverted to the OFF state with a short exposure to a 360 nm light source. The development of semiconducting colloidal inks that can be converted into electroactive devices through a continuous processing method is a critical step in the widespread adoption of these 2D manufacturing technologies for printed electronics.

Toward efficient binders for Li-ion battery Si-based anodes: polyacrylic acid.

Si-based Li-ion battery anodes offer specific capacity an order of magnitude beyond that of conventional graphite. However, the formation of stable Si anodes is a challenge because of significant volume changes occurring during their electrochemical alloying and dealloying with Li. Binder selection and optimization may allow significant improvements in the stability of Si-based anodes. Most studies of Si anodes have involved the use of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) binders. Herein, we show for the first time that pure poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), possessing certain mechanical properties comparable to those of CMC but containing a higher concentration of carboxylic functional groups, may offer superior performance as a binder for Si anodes. We further show the positive impact of carbon coating on the stability of the anode. The carbon-coated Si nanopowder anodes, tested between 0.01 and 1 V vs Li/Li+ and containing as little as 15 wt % of PAA, showed excellent stability during the first hundred cycles. The results obtained open new avenues to explore a novel series of binders from the polyvinyl acids (PVA) family.

Spectral tuning of conjugated polymer colloid light-emitting diodes.

In recent years, the importance of the polymer light-emitting diode (PLED) has grown immensely, proving very desirable in numerous applications because of very high efficiencies, low power consumption, and ease of fabrication. Typically, these devices have been constructed in a layered, thin-film fashion consisting of either electron- and hole-transport materials doped with a luminescent dye (Hebner, T. R.; Sturm, J. C. Appl. Phys. Lett. 1998, 73, 1775. Jiang, X.; Register, R. A.; Killeen, K. A.; Thompson, M. E.; Pschenitzka, F.; Hebner, T. R.; Sturm, J. C. J. Appl. Phys. 2002, 91, 6717. Yeh, K. M.; Chen, Y. Org. Electron. 2008, 9, 45-50. Oh, G. C.; Yun, J. J.; Park, S. M.; Son, S. H.; Han, E. M.; Gu, H. B.; Jin, S. H.; Yoon, Y. S. Mol. Cryst. Liq. Cryst. 2003, 405, 43-51. Lee, J. I.; Chu, H. Y.; Kim, S. H.; Do, L. M.; Zyung, T.; Hwang, D. H. Opt. Mater. 2003, 21, 205-210. Hwang, D.-H.; Park, M.-J.; Lee, C. Synth. Met. 2005, 152, 205-208) or a conjugated polymer that can be engineered to tune the emission of the PLED to particular wavelengths. Stable PLED aqueous colloidal dispersions were prepared containing poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene], (MEH-PPV), poly(9,9-di-n-octylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl) (PFO), and a binary poly(9,9-di-n-octylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl)/poly(2,5-dioctyl-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (PFO/POPPV) particle dispersion. Red-, green-, and blue-light-emitting colloidal dispersions could then be combined to achieve color-tailored emissions spanning the visible spectrum.

Copolymers of 2-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)ethyl 2-methylacrylate and 4-[5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]phenyl 2-methylacrylate: correlating hole drift mobility and electronic structure calculations with electroluminescence.

Methacrylate monomers functionalized with pendant carbazole and oxadiazole moieties were copolymerized into random copolymers with varying carbazole/oxadiazole ratios. Specifically, the monomers of 2-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)ethyl 2-methylacrylate (CE) and 4-[5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-yl]phenyl 2-methylacrylate (tBPOP) were copolymerized in various ratios, and the inherent hole drift mobilities were assessed through time-of-flight techniques. At a field strength of 345 kV/cm, the homopolymer PCE exhibited a hole mobility of 5.9 x 10(-7) cm(2)/V.s, which was approximately twice the value of the technologically important poly(9-vinylcarbazole), which exhibited a value of 2.8 x 10(-7) cm(2)/V.s. The range of hole mobilities in the copolymers varied from 2.4 x 10(-8) cm(2)/V.s for copolymers containing 50 mol % of the carbazole-containing monomer residue to 3.0 x 10(-7) cm(2)/V.s for copolymers that incorporated 88 mol % of the residue. Density functional theory (B3LYP/6-21G*) and optical absorption derived highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energies of CE were -5.39 and -1.94 eV, respectively, while the corresponding oxadiazole monomer (tBPOP) had a HOMO energy of -5.99 eV and a LUMO energy of -2.23 eV. The mean luminous efficiency of coumarin 6 doped single-layer devices constructed from the poly(CE-co-tBPOP) copolymers indicated a relatively flat efficiency of ca. 0.25 cd/A over a wide carbazole mole fraction content of 0.30-0.70.