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Abstract As an important online information retaining and processing function, working memory plays critical roles in many other cognitive functions. Several long-term factors, such as age, addiction and diseases, have been affirmed to impair working memory, but whether or how the short-term factors, like painful stimuli or emotions, regulate the human working memory ability is not well explored. Here we investigated the influences of empathic pain on upcoming working memory and existing working memory, by presenting human subjects with the pictures depicting painful or neutral scene. After separating the subjects into two groups, the more empathic group and relatively indifferent group, according to a well-accepted questionnaire (the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)), the modulatory effect emerged. Empathic pain might exerted either a facilitating effect or an impairing effect, which was closely correlated with the personal empathy skills. Meanwhile, different aspects of subjects’ empathy traits exerted distinct effects, and female subjects were more vulnerable than male subjects. Present study reveals a new modulatory manner of the working memory, via empathy skill-dependent painful experience.

A novel NaAgMoO4 material with spinel-like structure was synthesized by using the solid state reaction method and the ceramic sample was well densified at an extreme low sintering temperature about 400°C. Rietveld refinement of the crystal structure was performed using FULLPROF program and the cell parameters are a = b = c = 9.22039 Å with a space group F D - 3 M (227). High performance microwave dielectric properties, with a permittivity ~7.9, a Qf value ~33,000 GHz and a temperature coefficient of resonant frequency ~-120 ppm/°C, were obtained. From X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS) analysis of the co-fired sample, it was found that the NaAgMoO4 ceramic is chemically compatible with both silver and aluminum at the sintering temperature and this makes it a promising candidate for the ultra-low temperature co-fired ceramics technology. Analysis of infrared and THz spectra indicated that dielectric polarizability at microwave region of the NaAgMoO4 ceramic was equally contributed by ionic displasive and electronic polarizations. Its small microwave dielectric permittivity can also be explained well by the Shannon's additive rule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pr(Mg 1/2 Sn 1/2 )O 3 (PMS) ceramic was prepared through a conventional solid-state reaction method. Crystal structure was investigated through X-ray diffraction (XRD), which certificates that the main phase is PMS with monoclinic P2 1 /n1 symmetry. Lattice vibrational modes were obtained through Raman scattering spectroscopy and Fourier transform far-infrared reflection spectroscopy. The Raman spectrum active modes were assigned and illustrated, respectively, and then fitted with Lorentzian function. The four modes within the range of 110-200 cm -1 are derived from the F 2g vibrations (A-site cations), and the other three modes (300-430 cm -1 ) are derived from the F 2g vibrations (B-site cations).The mode with highest frequency above 650 cm -1 is attributed to A 1g -like mode that corresponds to the symmetric breathing of oxygen octahedral. The far-infrared spectrum with seven infrared active modes was fitted using four-parameter semi-quantum models to calculate intrinsic properties (permittivity and loss). F 2u (2) yielded the greatest contribution to dielectric constant and loss, which is mainly performed as the inverted translational vibration of Pr-MgO 6 octahedron.

In this work, the (Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 )(Mo 1-x W x )O 4 (x = 0.0, 0.5 and 1.0) ceramics were prepared via solid state reaction method. All the samples can be well densified at sintering temperature about ~720 °C. Dense and homogeneous microstructure with grain size lying between 2~8 μm can be observed from scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Microwave dielectric permittivity of the (Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 )(Mo 0.5 W 0.5 )O 4 ceramic was found to be temperature-independent in a wide range between 25~120 °C with a temperature coefficient of frequency (TCF) ~-6 ppm/°C, a permittivity ~28.9, and Qf values 12,000~14,000 GHz. Crystal structure was refined using Rietveld method and lattice parameters are a = b = 5.281 (5) Å and c = 11.550 (6) Å with a space group I 4 1 /a (88). The (Na 0.5 Bi 0.5 )(Mo 1-x W x )O 4 ceramics might be good candidate for low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) technology.