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Co-occurrence of autism and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) has been reported and may be particularly prevalent in women. However, the association between these conditions remains poorly understood, as does that between traits found throughout the general population. We present two studies which measured self-reported autistic traits (Autism Spectrum Quotient [AQ]) and BPD traits (McLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder [MSI-BPD]) in UK (N=703) and US (N=700) adults. As predicted, autistic and BPD traits correlated positively in both samples. However, there were no significant sex differences in the correlation strength. In the UK sample, the association between autistic traits (AQ total score) and BPD traits was no longer significant once current anxiety and depression symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]) were controlled for. However, AQ subscales for Details/Patterns and Communication/Mindreading remained significantly associated with MSI-BPD scores in the US sample. Our findings suggest that an overrepresentation of autistic women in patient populations with BPD may not be explained by traits of these conditions co-occurring to a greater degree in females than males. They also suggest that although both conditions are associated with elevated levels of anxiety and depression, BPD traits remain independently associated with specific aspects of autistic traits.
In the field of organic electronics, the interface between metal substrate and (sub)monolayer organic material is of crucial interest as it determines the functionality and efficiency of organic-electronic technologies such as organic light emitting diodes (OLED), organic field effect transistors (OFET) and organic photovoltaics (OPV). In an effort to support this burgeoning multi-disciplinary field, this work aims to identify and understand structure-to-property relationships of a variety of hybrid interfaces. Utilising state-of-the-art computation, theoretical calculations at the Density Functional Theory level are presented and compared to both qualitative and quantitative experimental benchmarks - where possible. The systems of interest are comprised of either strong electron donor species such as alkali atoms, or organic electron acceptor molecules such as 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) and its derivatives, adsorbed on coinage metal substrates. Information gathered by studying these systems provide general structure-to-property relationships which can be used in the context of co-adsorbed phases at metal surfaces. In particular, the influence of long range dispersion interactions and correct description of such forces which determine the adsorption geometry between substrate and adsorbate. In addition, there are many concomitant processes which arise due to adsorption such as, the "push back" effect, intrinsic dipoles and electrostatic interactions. The implications of such effects can influence structural rearrangement which ultimately impact the energy level alignment across the metal-organic interface. To this end, the improvement of our understanding of energy level alignment and how to exert control over it poses the greatest challenge within the field. Improvement of quantum efficiencies of the aforementioned organic electronic technologies is highly dependent upon elucidating the nature of the non-trivial metal-organic interface. Probing the electronic structure is of upmost importance as will be shown in this work utilising well-established methods.
We study the fundamental limits of the precision of estimating parameters of a quantum matter system when it is probed by a traveling pulse of quantum light. In particular, we focus on the estimation of the interaction strength between the pulse and a two-level atom, equivalent to the estimation of the dipole moment. Our analysis of single-photon pulses highlights the interplay between the information gained from the absorption of the photon by the atom as measured in absorption spectroscopy and the perturbation to the temporal mode of the photon due to spontaneous emission. Beyond the single-photon regime, we introduce an approximate model to study more general states of light in the limit of short pulses, where spontaneous emission can be neglected. We also show that for a vast class of entangled biphoton states, quantum entanglement between the signal mode interacting with the atom and the idler mode provides no fundamental advantage and the same precision can be obtained with a separable state. We conclude by studying the estimation of the electric dipole moment of a sodium atom using quantum light. Our work initiates a quantum information-theoretic methodology for developing the theory and practice of quantum light spectroscopy.
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