The role of resilience in diabetes stigma among young and middle-aged patients with type 2 diabetes.

AIM: To explore the prevalence and related factors influencing diabetes stigma among Chinese young and middle-aged patients with type 2 diabetes. DESIGN: A cross-sectional, quantitative study was conducted through questionnaires. METHODS: A total of 453 young and middle-aged patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited. Questionnaire survey was conducted with convenience sampling from September 2019 to December 2020. This included demographic questionnaire, Type 2 Diabetes Stigma Assessment Scale (DSAS-2) and Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The STROBE checklist was applied as the reporting guideline for this study. RESULTS: The scores of diabetes stigma and resilience of patients were 48.18 ± 14.52 and 66.02 ± 7.18, respectively. Diabetes stigma was negatively correlated with resilience, the correlation coefficient was -0.581. The results showed that the complications, diabetes year, monthly income and insulin treatment are important factors affecting stigma. In addition, it is resilience that was a protective factor of diabetes stigma, explaining 27.2% of the variance in diabetes stigma.

Reversible structural transition of two-dimensional copper selenide on Cu(111).

Structural engineering opens a door to manipulating the structures and thus tuning the properties of two-dimensional materials. Here, we report a reversible structural transition in honeycomb CuSe monolayer on Cu(111) through scanning tunneling microscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). Direct selenization of Cu(111) gives rise to the formation of honeycomb CuSe monolayers with one-dimensional moiré structures (stripe-CuSe), due to the asymmetric lattice distortions in CuSe induced by the lattice mismatch. Additional deposition of Se combined with post annealing results in the formation of honeycomb CuSe with quasi-ordered arrays of triangular holes (hole-CuSe), namely, the structural transition from stripe-CuSe to hole-CuSe. Further, annealing the hole-CuSe at higher temperature leads to the reverse structural transition, namely from hole-CuSe to stripe-CuSe. AES measurement unravels the Se content change in the reversible structural transition. Therefore, both the Se coverage and annealing temperature play significant roles in the reversible structural transition in CuSe on Cu(111). Our work provides insights in understanding of the structural transitions in two-dimensional materials.

On-Surface Synthesis of Graphene Nanoribbons on Two-Dimensional Rare Earth-Gold Intermetallic Compounds.

Here, we demonstrate two reliable routes for the fabrication of armchair-edge graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) on TbAu2/Au(111), belonging to a class of two-dimensional ferromagnetic rare earth-gold intermetallic compounds. On-surface synthesis directly on TbAu2 leads to the formation of GNRs, which are short and interconnected with each other. In contrast, the intercalation approach-on-surface synthesis of GNRs directly on Au(111) followed by rare earth intercalation-yields GNRs on TbAu2/Au(111), where both the ribbons and TbAu2 are of high quality comparable with those directly grown on clean Au(111). Besides, the as-grown ribbons retain the same band gap while changing from p-doping to weak n-doping mainly due to a change in the work function of the substrate after the rare earth intercalation. The intercalation approach might also be employed to fabricate other types of GNRs on various rare earth intermetallic compounds, providing platforms to tailor the electronic and magnetic properties of GNRs on magnetic substrates.

Two-Dimensional Rare Earth-Gold Intermetallic Compounds on Au(111) by Surface Alloying.

Surface alloying is a straightforward route to control and modify the structure and electronic properties of surfaces. Here, we present a systematic study on the structural and electronic properties of three novel rare earth-based intermetallic compounds, namely, ReAu2 (Re = Tb, Ho, and Er), on Au(111) via directly depositing rare earth metals onto the hot Au(111) surface. Scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurements reveal very similar atomic structures and electronic properties, e.g., electronic states and surface work functions, for all these intermetallic compound systems because of the physical and chemical similarities between these rare earth elements. Further, these electronic properties are periodically modulated by the moiré structures caused by the lattice mismatches between ReAu2 and Au(111). These periodically modulated surfaces could serve as templates for the self-assembly of nanostructures. In addition, these two-dimensional rare earth-based intermetallic compounds provide platforms to investigate rare earth-related catalysis, magnetisms, etc. in the lower dimensions.

A two-dimensional ErCu2 intermetallic compound on Cu(111) with moiré-pattern-modulated electronic structures.

A rare-earth compound on a metal may form a two-dimensional (2D) intermetallic compound whose properties can be further modulated by the underlying substrate periodicity and coupling. Here, we present a combinational and systematic investigation using scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations on erbium (Er) on Cu(111). Experimentally, an intriguing growth mode transition from a branched island to a fractal-like island has been observed depending on whether the deposition process of Er is interrupted for a certain duration: post-deposition effects, such as nucleation and island growth controlled by diffusion, play an essential role in altering the Er island edge and its activity. Upon annealing, the branched Er islands become strands of amorphous surface alloy; in contrast, the fractal-like islands (with additional Er atoms on top) give rise to a monolayer thick 2D ErCu2 intermetallic compound and display a moiré pattern. Theoretically, using DFT calculations, we found that the characteristic energy states, particularly the state in the unoccupied region around 582-663 meV, of the 2D ErCu2 intermetallic compound are position-dependent, consistent with STS measurements. The moiré pattern originating from the mismatch of the periodicities of the ErCu2 layer and the Cu(111) surface was identified to be responsible for the observed periodic modulation on the coupling interaction that affects the electronic structures. Our further DFT calculations on a free-standing ErCu2 monolayer found it to be a 2D ferromagnet with topological band structures. Our work should stimulate further studies on such 2D rare-earth-based nanostructures and exploration of the use of the tunable electronic structures in such atomically-thin layers.

Growth Behavior of Pristine and Potassium Doped Coronene Thin Films on Substrates with Tuned Coupling Strength.

The growth of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) molecular coronene film on various substrates and the subsequent doping of potassium under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions have been systematically investigated by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS). The crystalline structures and molecular orientations of coronene thin films are both thickness-dependent and substrate-sensitive due to the competition between molecule-substrate interaction and intermolecular interaction. In mono- or bilayer films, coronene molecules are flat-lying on the surface with hexagonal lattice, whereas in multilayer films, the topmost molecules are in a standing-up but tilted configuration with rectangular lattice. In particular, a 2 × 1 superstructure with respect to that of bulk coronene is formed on thick KCl film. Furthermore, we have studied the potassium doped coronene monolayer and multilayer on Ag(100) and KCl/Ag(100) surface. For K-doped coronene monolayer, at certain doping ratio x = 3, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of coronene film moves to the Fermi level, and a splitting of the LUMO state is observed. Increased potassium doping would result in a filled LUMO state below the Fermi level. By contrast, no well-ordered structures are obtained in the K-doped coronene multilayers which are vulnerable to rather moderate annealing processes owing to their relatively weak bonding with the supporting substrates, implying a big challenge of growth of PAH thick films in vacuum. The differences in the crystal structures of coronene thin films compared with that in bulk crystals might shed insight on the controversies in the experimental results on the electronic properties of alkali-metal-doped PAHs.