Two of the most striking features in alcoholism are the irresistible craving for alcohol and the proceeding neglect of other activities and pleasures that were formerly relevant. Craving has been investigated extensively and is commonly due to a dysfunctional reward system. The neural basis of the neglect of self-relevant interests, which can be described as altered personal reference, and its association to the reward system, however, remains unclear. Using fMRI, we investigated neural activity during a paradigm that tested for both reward and personal reference with regard to the same stimuli, i.e., alcoholic and nonalcoholic pictures, in healthy subjects and abstinent alcoholic patients. Alcoholic patients showed slightly reduced signal changes in the brain stem adjacent to ventral tegmental area (VTA) and in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) during the reward task, while we found no alterations in the right and left ventral striatum (VS). The same regions (VS, VTA, and VMPFC), however, showed reduced signal changes during personal reference with lack of neural differentiation between high and low referenced stimuli in alcoholic patients. In summary, we demonstrate for the first time neurophysiological alterations in reward circuitry during personal reference in alcoholic patients. Our results underline the important role of the reward circuitry during personal reference in the pathophysiology of alcohol addiction.

Applying a voltage to metal electrodes in contact with aqueous electrolytes results in the electrolysis of water at voltages above the decomposition voltage and plasma formation in the electrolyte at much higher voltages referred to as contact glow discharge electrolysis (CGDE). While several studies explore parameters that lead to changes in the I-U characteristics in this voltage range, little is known about the evolution of the structural properties of the electrodes. Here we study this aspect on materials essential to electrocatalysis, namely Pt, Au, and Cu. The stationary I-U characteristics are almost identical for all electrodes. Detailed structural characterization by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electrochemical approaches reveal that Pt is stable during electrolysis and CGDE, while Au and Cu exhibit a voltage-dependent oxide formation. More importantly, oxides are reduced when the Au and Cu electrodes are kept in the electrolysis solution after electrolysis. We suspect that H 2 O 2 (formed during electrolysis) is responsible for the oxide reduction. The reduced oxides (which are also accessible via electrochemical reduction) form a porous film, representing a possible new class of materials in energy storage and conversion studies.

Photosensitizing units have already been applied to enable light-driven catalytic reduction of CO 2 with mononuclear rhenium complexes. However, dinuclear catalytic systems that are able to activate CO 2 in a cooperative bimetallic fashion have only rarely been combined with photosensitizers. We here present detailed studies on the influence of additional photosensitizers on the catalytic performance of a dirhenium complex (Re 2 Cl 2 ) and present correlations with spectroscopic measurements, which shed light on the reaction mechanism. The use of [Ir(dFppy) 3 ] (Ir, dFppy = 2-(4,6-difluorophenyl)pyridine)) resulted in considerably faster CO 2 to CO transformation than [Cu-(xant)(bcp)]PF 6 (Cu, xant = xantphos, bcp = bathocuproine). Emission quenching studies, transient absorption as well as IR spectroscopy provide information about the electron transfer paths of the intermolecular systems. It turned out that formation of double reduced species [Re 2 Cl 2 ] 2À along with an intermediate with a ReÀ Re bond ([ReRe]) can be taken as an indication of multi-electron storage capacity. Furthermore, under catalytic conditions a CO 2 -bridged intermediate was identified.

Nanoporous Au (NPG) films have promising properties, making them suitable for various applications in (electro)catalysis or (bio)sensing. Tuning the structural properties, such as the pore size or the surface‐to‐volume ratio, often requires complex starting materials such as alloys, multiple synthesis steps, lengthy preparation procedures or a combination of these factors. Here we present an approach that circumvents these difficulties, enabling for a rapid and controlled preparation of NPG films starting from a bare Au electrode. In a first approach a Au oxide film is prepared by high voltage (HV) electrolysis in a KOH solution, which is then reduced either electrochemically or in the presence of H2O2. The resulting NPG structures and their electrochemically active surface areas strongly depend on the reduction procedure, the concentration and temperature of the H2O2‐containing KOH solution, as well as the applied voltage and temperature during HV electrolysis. Secondly, the NPG film can be prepared directly by applying voltages that result in anodic contact glow discharge electrolysis (aCGDE). By carefully adjusting the corresponding parameters, the surface area of the final NPG film can be specifically controlled. The structural properties of the electrodes are investigated by means of XPS, SEM and electrochemical methods.

Applying an external potential difference between two electrodes leads to a voltage drop in an ion conducting electrolyte. This drop is particularly large in poorly conducting electrolytes and for high currents. Measuring the electrolyte potential is relevant in electrochemistry, e.g., bipolar electrochemistry, ohmic microscopy, or contact glow discharge electrolysis. Here, we study the course of the electrolyte potential during high voltage electrolysis in an electrolysis cell using two reversible hydrogen electrodes as reference electrodes, placed at different positions in the electrolyte. The electrolysis is performed with a Pt working and stainless steel counter electrode in a KOH solution. A computational COMSOL model is devised which supports the experimentally obtained potential distribution. The influence of the cell geometry on the electrolyte potentials is evaluated. Applying the knowledge of the potential distribution to the formation of a Au oxide surface structure produced during high voltage electrolysis, we find that the amount of oxide formed is related to the current rather than the applied voltage.