Abstract Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) have long been considered potential sources of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs; with energy ≳10 18 eV). In this work, we propose a novel model generating MeV ...emission lines in GRBs, which can constrain the properties of heavy nuclei that potentially exist in GRB jets. Specifically, we find that relativistic hydrogen-like high-atomic-number ions originating from the β decay of unstable nuclei and/or the recombination entrained in the GRB jet can generate narrow MeV emission lines through the de-excitation of excited electrons. This model can successfully explain the MeV emission line observed in the most luminous GRB ever recorded, GRB 221009A, with suitable parameters including a Lorentz factor γ ∼ 820–1700 and a total mass of heavy nuclei M tot ∼ 10 23 –10 26 g. Especially, the emission line broadening can be reasonably attributed to both the expansion of the jet shell and the thermal motion of nuclei, naturally resulting in a narrow width ( σ line / E line ≲ 0.2) consistent with the observation. Furthermore, we predict that different GRBs can exhibit lines in different bands with various evolving behaviors, which might be confirmed with further observations. Finally, our model provides indirect evidence that GRBs may be one of the sources of UHECRs.
We report the template-directed synthesis of sulphur-carbon nanotubes and their use to form a membrane that is binder-free, highly conductive and flexible. This nanostructured membrane is used as a ...self-supporting cathode without metal current-collectors for Li-S batteries. The membrane cathode has a high electrical conductivity and renders a long life of sulphur of over 100 charge-discharge cycles. High discharge capacity of sulphur was attained at 712 mA h g sub(sulphur) super(-1) (23 wt% S) and 520 mA h g sub(sulphur) super(-1) (50 wt% S) at a high current density (6 A g sub(sulphur) super(-1) ). The overall capacity of the flexible cathode correspondingly reaches 163 mA h g super(-1) (23 wt% S) and 260 mA h g super(-1) (50 wt% S). These results demonstrate the great potential of this nanostructured flexible membrane as a cathode for Li-S batteries with fast charge-discharge performance and long life.
The equation of state (EoS) of the neutron star (NS) matter remains an enigma. In this work we perform the Bayesian parameter inference with the gravitational wave data (GW170817) and mass-radius ...observations of some NSs (PSR J0030+0451, PSR J0437−4715, and 4U 1702-429) using the phenomenologically constructed EoS models to search for a potential first-order phase transition. Our phenomenological EoS models take the advantages of current widely used parametrizing methods, which are flexible enough to resemble various theoretical EoS models. We find that the current observation data are still not informative enough to support/rule out phase transition, due to the comparable evidences for models with and without phase transition. However, the bulk properties of the canonical 1.4 M⊙ NS and the pressure at around 2ρsat are well constrained by the data, where ρsat is the nuclear saturation density. Moreover, strong phase transition at low densities is disfavored, and the 1σ lower bound of transition density is constrained to 1.84ρsat.
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CMK, CTK, FMFMET, IJS, NUK, PNG, UM
Molecular ferroelectric thin films are highly desirable for their easy and environmentally friendly processing, light weight, and mechanical flexibility. A thin film of imidazolium perchlorate ...processed from aqueous solution is an excellent molecular ferroelectric with high spontaneous polarization, high Curie temperature, low coercivity, and superior electromechanical coupling. These attributes make it a molecular alternative to perovskite ferroelectric films in sensing, actuation, data storage, electro‐optics, and molecular/flexible electronics.
Molecular ferroelectric thin films and block crystals along crystal face (10$\bar 2$) of imidazolium perchlorate display perfect hexagonal domains similar to that of the trigonal crystal system LiNbO3. The high spontaneous polarization, high Curie temperature, low coercivity, and superior electromechanical coupling make it a molecular alternative to perovskite ferroelectric films.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
The mass (
M
TOV
) and radius (
R
TOV
) of the maximum-mass nonrotating neutron star (NS) play a crucial role in constraining the elusive equation of state of cold dense matter and in ...predicting the fate of remnants from binary neutron star (BNS) mergers. In this study, we introduce a novel method to deduce these parameters by examining the mergers of second-generation (2G) black holes (BHs) with NSs. These 2G BHs are assumed to originate from supramassive neutron stars (SMNSs) formed in BNS mergers. Since the properties of the remnant BHs arising from the collapse of SMNSs follow a universal relation governed by
M
TOV
and
R
TOV
, we anticipate that by analyzing a series (∼100 detections) of mass and spin measurements of the 2G BHs using the third-generation ground-based gravitational-wave detectors,
M
TOV
and
R
TOV
can be determined with a precision of ∼0.01
M
⊙
and ∼0.6 km, respectively.
Abstract
Synthetic nano/micromotors are a burgeoning class of materials with vast promise for applications ranging from environmental remediation to nanomedicine. The motility of these motors is ...generally controlled by the concentration of accessible fuel, and therefore, engineering speed‐regulation mechanisms, particularly using biological triggers, remains a continuing challenge. Here, control over the movement of superassembled porous framework micromotors via a reversible, biological‐relevant pH‐responsive regulatory mechanism is demonstrated. Succinylated β‐lactoglobulin and catalase are superassembled in porous framework particles, where the β‐lactoglobulin is permeable at neutral pH. This permeability allows the fuel (H
2
O
2
) to access catalase, leading to autonomous movement of the micromotors. However, at mild acidic pH, succinylated β‐lactoglobulin undergoes a reversible gelation process, preventing the access of fuel into the micromotors where the catalase resides. To one's knowledge, this study represents the first example of chemically driven motors with rapid, reversible pH‐responsive motility. Furthermore, the porous framework significantly enhances the biocatalytic activity of catalase, allowing ultralow H
2
O
2
concentrations to be exploited at physiological conditions. It is envisioned that the simultaneous exploitation of pH and chemical potential of such nanosystems could have potential applications as stimulus‐responsive drug delivery vehicles that benefit from the complex biological environment.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Flatbands play an important role in correlated quantum matter and have promising applications in photonic lattices. Synthetic magnetic fields and destructive interference in lattices are ...traditionally used to obtain flatbands. However, such methods can only obtain a few flatbands with most bands remaining dispersive. Here we realize all-band-flat photonic lattices of an arbitrary size by precisely controlling the coupling strengths between lattice sites to mimic those in Fock-state lattices. This allows us to go beyond the perturbative regime of strain engineering and group all eigenmodes in flatbands, which simultaneously achieves high band flatness and large usable bandwidth. We map out the distribution of each flatband in the lattices and selectively excite the eigenmodes with different chiralities. Our method paves a way in controlling band structure and topology of photonic lattices.
Fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) have been increasingly used in fluorescence detection and imaging based on their tunable fluorescence (FL) and resistance to photobleaching. However, the fast and ...reliable design of fluorescent CDs with specific optical properties involves a number of factors, such as the concentration of precursors, reaction time, and solvents. Therefore, it is usually considered difficult to design CDs with favorable optical properties. Herein, we report an extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) model for guiding the fabrication of CDs with high FL intensity and tunable emission from p-benzoquinone (PBQ) and ethylenediamine (EDA) in different solvents at room temperature. Among a variety of studied machine learning models, XGBoost shows the best performance in the field of material synthesis, with a prediction coefficient of determination (R 2) higher than 0.96. The XGBoost model can effectively predict the optical properties of CDs, including the maximum FL intensity and emission centers. Guided by the XGBoost model, various green or blue fluorescent CDs with adjustable emission centers and solubility properties are designed and fabricated accurately. These CDs are successfully applied for Fe3+ detection, sustained drug release, whole-cell imaging, and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) film preparation. These results suggest the great potential of the combination of machine learning and CD synthesis as an effective strategy to help researchers realize accurate selection of reasonable CDs with individual customized properties to achieve different goals.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The growing world population and shrinkage of arable land demand yield improvement of rice, one of the most important staple crops. To elucidate the genetic basis of yield and uncover its associated ...loci in rice, we resequenced the core recombinant inbred lines of Liang–You–Pei–Jiu , the widely cultivated super hybrid rice, and constructed a high-resolution linkage map. We detected 43 yield-associated quantitative trait loci, of which 20 are unique. Based on the high-density physical map, the genome sequences of paternal variety 93–11 and maternal cultivar PA64s of Liang–You–Pei–Jiu were significantly improved. The large recombinant inbred line population combined with plentiful high-quality single nucleotide polymorphisms and insertions/deletions between parental genomes allowed us to fine-map two quantitative trait loci, qSN8 and qSPB1 , and to identify days to heading8 and lax panicle1 as candidate genes, respectively. The quantitative trait locus qSN8 was further confirmed to be days to heading8 by a complementation test. Our study provided an ideal platform for molecular breeding by targeting and dissecting yield-associated loci in rice.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Aims/Introduction
To examine the performance and identify the optimal threshold of vibration perception threshold (VPT) for diagnosing diabetic polyneuropathy (DPN) in a Chinese population according ...to multiple definitions of DPN as gold standards.
Materials and Methods
VPT was determined in 421 Chinese individuals with type 2 diabetes, who simultaneously completed a questionnaire of neuropathic symptoms, and underwent the assessment of signs of peripheral neuropathy and electromyography tests. Three definitions of DPN (i.e., clinician‐diagnosed DPN, abnormal nerve conduction and confirmed DPN) were taken as reference gold standards.
Results
Vibration perception threshold was a specific measure for all three groups of DPN outcomes, with the highest specificity noted for clinician‐diagnosed DPN (85.1%). The specificity for abnormal nerve conduction and confirmed DPN was 77.0 and 76.6%, respectively. The sensitivity of VPT was 67.0% for clinician‐diagnosed DPN, 66.5% for abnormal nerve conduction and 67.2% for confirmed DPN. The optimal cut‐off threshold for abnormal nerve conduction, as well as confirmed DPN, was VPT >14.9 V. The specificity and sensitivity of VPT >14.9 V as the cut‐off value for clinician‐diagnosed DPN were 85.6 and 66.2%, respectively. When taking clinician‐diagnosed DPN as the gold standard, the performance of VPT for diagnosing DPN was best with an area under the curve value of 0.804.
Conclusions
VPT measured using the neurothesiometer had relatively high specificity and best performance for diagnosing DPN when clinician‐diagnosed DPN rather than abnormal nerve conduction was taken as the gold standard in a Chinese population. A VPT value of ≥15 V might be equally applicable for diagnosing DPN in a Chinese population.
Vibration perception threshold measured using the neurothesiometer had relatively high specificity and best performance for diagnosing diabetic polyneuropathy when clinician‐diagnosed diabetic polyneuropathy rather than abnormal nerve conduction was taken as the gold standard in a Chinese population. A vibration perception threshold value of ≥15 V might be equally applicable for diagnosing diabetic polyneuropathy in a Chinese population.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK