Bounds on Lorentz Invariance Violation from MAGIC Observation of GRB 190114C.

On January 14, 2019, the Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescopes detected GRB 190114C above 0.2 TeV, recording the most energetic photons ever observed from a gamma-ray burst. We use this unique observation to probe an energy dependence of the speed of light in vacuo for photons as predicted by several quantum gravity models.

Measurement of CP-Averaged Observables in the B^{0}→K^{*0}μ^{+}μ^{-} Decay.

An angular analysis of the B^{0}→K^{*0}(→K^{+}π^{-})μ^{+}μ^{-} decay is presented using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.7  fb^{-1} of pp collision data collected with the LHCb experiment. The full set of CP-averaged observables are determined in bins of the invariant mass squared of the dimuon system.

USP30 sets a trigger threshold for PINK1-PARKIN amplification of mitochondrial ubiquitylation.

The mitochondrial deubiquitylase USP30 negatively regulates the selective autophagy of damaged mitochondria. We present the characterisation of an N-cyano pyrrolidine compound, FT3967385, with high selectivity for USP30. We demonstrate that ubiquitylation of TOM20, a component of the outer mitochondrial membrane import machinery, represents a robust biomarker for both USP30 loss and inhibition.

Magneto-Optics of Excitons Interacting with Magnetic Ions in CdSe/CdMnS Colloidal Nanoplatelets.

Excitons in diluted magnetic semiconductors represent excellent probes for studying the magnetic properties of these materials. Various magneto-optical effects, which depend sensitively on the exchange interaction of the excitons with the localized spins of the magnetic ions can be used for probing. Here, we study core/shell CdSe/(Cd,Mn)S colloidal nanoplatelets hosting diluted magnetic semiconductor layers.

Evaluation of the activation of brass apertures in proton therapy using gamma-ray spectrometry and Monte Carlo simulations.

Collimating apertures are used in proton therapy to laterally conform treatment fields to the target volume. While this is a standard technique in passive spreading treatment heads, patient-specific apertures can supplement pencil-beam scanning (PBS) techniques to sharpen the lateral dose fall-off. A radiation protection issue is that proton-induced nuclear reactions can lead to the formation of radionuclides in the apertures.

Efficient Quantum Gates for Individual Nuclear Spin Qubits by Indirect Control.

Hybrid quantum registers, such as electron-nuclear spin systems, have emerged as promising hardware for implementing quantum information and computing protocols in scalable systems. Nevertheless, the coherent control of such systems still faces challenges. Particularly, the lower gyromagnetic ratios of the nuclear spins cause them to respond slowly to control fields, resulting in gate times that are generally longer than the coherence time of the electron.

Measurement of the Lund Jet Plane Using Charged Particles in 13 TeV Proton-Proton Collisions with the ATLAS Detector.

The prevalence of hadronic jets at the LHC requires that a deep understanding of jet formation and structure is achieved in order to reach the highest levels of experimental and theoretical precision. There have been many measurements of jet substructure at the LHC and previous colliders, but the targeted observables mix physical effects from various origins. Based on a recent proposal to factorize physical effects, this Letter presents a double-differential cross-section measurement of the Lund jet plane using 139  fb^{-1} of sqrt[s]=13  TeV proton-proton collision data collected with the ATLAS detector using jets with transverse momentum above 675 GeV.

Observation of New Ξ_{c}^{0} Baryons Decaying to Λ_{c}^{+}K^{-}.

The Λ_{c}^{+}K^{-} mass spectrum is studied with a data sample of pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5.6  fb^{-1} collected by the LHCb experiment. Three Ξ_{c}^{0} states are observed with a large significance and their masses and natural widths are measured to be m[Ξ_{c}(2923)^{0}]=2923.

Modulation of Cation Diffusion by Reversible Supramolecular Assemblies in Ionic Liquid-Based Nanocomposites.

Ionic liquid (IL) properties, such as high ionic conductivity under ambient conditions combined with nontoxicity and nonflammability, make them important materials for future technologies. Despite high ion conductivity desired for battery applications, cation transport numbers in ILs are not sufficient enough to attain high power density batteries. Thus, developing novel approaches directed toward improvement of cation transport properties is required for the application of ILs in energy-storing devices.

Search for the Rare Decays B_{s}^{0}→e^{+}e^{-} and B^{0}→e^{+}e^{-}.

A search for the decays B_{s}^{0}→e^{+}e^{-} and B^{0}→e^{+}e^{-} is performed using data collected with the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to integrated luminosities of 1, 2, and 2  fb^{-1}, respectively. No signal is observed. Assuming no contribution from B^{0}→e^{+}e^{-} decays, an upper limit on the branching fraction B(B_{s}^{0}→e^{+}e^{-})<9.

A Prosthetic Shank With Adaptable Torsion Stiffness and Foot Alignment.

Torsion adapters in lower limb prostheses aim to increase comfort, mobility and health of users by allowing rotation in the transversal plane. A preliminary study with two transtibial amputees indicated correlations between torsional stiffness and foot alignment to increase comfort and stability of the user depending on the gait situation and velocity. This paper presents the design and proof-of-concept of an active, bio-inspired prosthetic shank adapter and a novel approach to create a user-specific human-machine interaction through adapting the device's properties.

Effect of External Force on Agency in Physical Human-Machine Interaction.

In the advent of intelligent robotic tools for physically assisting humans, user experience, and intuitiveness in particular have become important features for control designs. However, existing works predominantly focus on performance-related measures for evaluating control systems as the subjective experience of a user by large cannot be directly observed. In this study, we therefore focus on agency-related interactions between control and embodiment in the context of physical human-machine interaction.

Charge Separation Dynamics in CdSe/CdS Core/Shell Nanoplatelets Addressed by Coherent Electron Spin Precession.

We investigate the charge separation dynamics provided by carrier surface trapping in CdSe/CdS core/shell nanoplatelets by means of a three-laser-beam pump-orientation-probe technique, detecting the electron spin coherence at room temperature. Signals with two Larmor precession frequencies are found, which strongly differ in their dynamical characteristics and dependencies on pump power and shell thickness. The electron trapping process occurs on a time scale of about 10 ns, and the charge separation induced thereby has a long lifetime of up to hundreds of microseconds.

Omics for Bioprospecting and Drug Discovery from Bacteria and Microalgae.

"Omics" represent a combinatorial approach to high-throughput analysis of biological entities for various purposes. It broadly encompasses genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, lipidomics, and metabolomics. Bacteria and microalgae exhibit a wide range of genetic, biochemical and concomitantly, physiological variations owing to their exposure to biotic and abiotic dynamics in their ecosystem conditions.

Three-Component Access to Functionalized Spiropyrrolidine Heterocyclic Scaffolds and Their Cholinesterase Inhibitory Activity.

A novel [3+2]-cycloaddition reaction of 3-arylidene-1-phenyl-succinimides, cyclic 1,2-diketones (isatin, 5-chloro-isatin and acenaphtenequinone), and diverse aminoacids such as 2-phenylglycine or sarcosine is reported. The reaction provides succinimide-substituted dispiropyrrolidine derivatives with high regio- and diastereoselectivities under mild reaction conditions. The stereochemistry of these heterocycles has been confirmed by four X-ray diffraction studies.

Picosecond ultrasonics with miniaturized semiconductor lasers.

There is a great desire to extend ultrasonic techniques to the imaging and characterization of nanoobjects. This can be achieved by picosecond ultrasonics, where by using ultrafast lasers it is possible to generate and detect acoustic waves with frequencies up to terahertz and wavelengths down to nanometers. In our work we present a picosecond ultrasonics setup based on miniaturized mode-locked semiconductor lasers, whose performance allows us to obtain the necessary power, pulse duration and repetition rate.

Isolation, Characterization and Targeted Metabolic Evaluation of Endophytic Fungi Harbored in 14 Seed-Derived Hypericum Species.

Medicinal plants of the genus are rich sources of bioactive naphthodianthrones, which are unique in the plant kingdom, but quite common in fungal endophytes. Cultivable endophytic fungi were isolated from 14 different spp. originating from seeds grown under conditions and further acclimated to outdoor conditions.

Measurement of f_{s}/f_{u} Variation with Proton-Proton Collision Energy and B-Meson Kinematics.

The ratio of the B_{s}^{0} and B^{+} fragmentation fractions f_{s} and f_{u} is studied with B_{s}^{0}→J/ψϕ and B^{+}→J/ψK^{+} decays using data collected by the LHCb experiment in proton-proton collisions at 7, 8, and 13 TeV center-of-mass energies. The analysis is performed in bins of B-meson momentum, longitudinal momentum, transverse momentum, pseudorapidity, and rapidity. The fragmentation-fraction ratio f_{s}/f_{u} is observed to depend on the B-meson transverse momentum with a significance of 6.

Isospin Amplitudes in Λ_{b}^{0}→J/ψΛ(Σ^{0}) and Ξ_{b}^{0}→J/ψΞ^{0}(Λ) Decays.

Ratios of isospin amplitudes in hadron decays are a useful probe of the interplay between weak and strong interactions and allow searches for physics beyond the standard model. We present the first results on isospin amplitudes in b-baryon decays, using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 8.5  fb^{-1}, collected with the LHCb detector in pp collisions at center of mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV.

Aromaticity and sterics control whether a cationic olefin radical is resistant to disproportionation.

We elucidate why some electron rich-olefins such as tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) or paraquat (1,1'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridinylidene) form persistent radical cations, whereas others such as the dimer of ,'-dimethyl benzimidazolin-2-ylidene (benzNHC) do not. Specifically, three heterodimers derived from cyclic (alkyl) (amino) carbenes (CAAC) with ,'-dimethyl imidazolin-2-ylidene (NHC), ,'-dimethyl imidazolidin-2-ylidene (saNHC) and -methyl benzothiazolin-2-ylidene (btNHC) are reported. Whereas the olefin radical cations with the NHC and btNHC are isolable, the NHC compound with a saturated backbone (saNHC) disproportionates instead to the biscation and olefin.

Measurement of Azimuthal Anisotropy of Muons from Charm and Bottom Hadrons in pp Collisions at sqrt[s]=13 TeV with the ATLAS Detector.

The elliptic flow of muons from the decay of charm and bottom hadrons is measured in pp collisions at sqrt[s]=13  TeV using a data sample with an integrated luminosity of 150  pb^{-1} recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The muons from heavy-flavor decay are separated from light-hadron decay muons using momentum imbalance between the tracking and muon spectrometers. The heavy-flavor decay muons are further separated into those from charm decay and those from bottom decay using the distance-of-closest-approach to the collision vertex.

First Observation of Excited Ω_{b}^{-} States.

We report four narrow peaks in the Ξ_{b}^{0}K^{-} mass spectrum obtained using pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7, 8, and 13 TeV, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 9  fb^{-1} recorded by the LHCb experiment. Referring to these states by their mass, the mass values are m[Ω_{b}(6316)^{-}]=6315.64±0.

A portable on-axis laser-heating system for near-90° X-ray spectroscopy: application to ferropericlase and iron silicide.

A portable IR fiber laser-heating system, optimized for X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and nuclear inelastic scattering (NIS) spectroscopy with signal collection through the radial opening of diamond anvil cells near 90°with respect to the incident X-ray beam, is presented. The system offers double-sided on-axis heating by a single laser source and zero attenuation of incoming X-rays other than by the high-pressure environment. A description of the system, which has been tested for pressures above 100 GPa and temperatures up to 3000 K, is given.

From Short-Bite Ligand Assembled Ribbons to Nanosized Networks in Cu(I) Coordination Polymers Built Upon Bis(benzylthio)alkanes (BzS(CH)SBz; = 1-9).

With the objective to establish a correlation between the spacer distance and halide dependence on the structural features of coordination polymers (CPs) assembled by the reaction between CuX salts (X = Cl, Br, I) and dithioether ligands BzS(CH)SBz ( = 1-9; Bz = benzyl), a series of 26 compounds have been prepared and structurally investigated. A particular attention has been devoted to the design of networks with extremely long and flexible methylene spacer units between the SBz donor sites. Under identical conditions, CuI and CuBr react with BzSCHBz () affording respectively the one-dimensional (1D) CPs {Cu(μ-I)Cu}(μ-)] () and {Cu(μ-Br)Cu}(μ-)] (), which incorporate Cu(μ-X)Cu rhomboids as secondary building units (SBUs).

Singlet Fission in Carbene-Derived Diradicaloids.

Herein, we present a new class of singlet fission (SF) materials based on diradicaloids of carbene scaffolds, namely cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes (CAACs). Our modular approach allows the tuning of two key SF criteria: the steric factor and the diradical character. In turn, we modified the energy landscapes of excited states in a systematic manner to accommodate the needs for SF.