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Low concentration hydrogen gas detection is of paramount importance both in space applications as well as medical applications. It is also critically important for safe handling of hydrogen below the explosive limit. Here, we report a novel hybrid Pd metal-polymer chemiresistive sensor that can sense 0.5% hydrogen ($H_2$) gas in ambient conditions of temperature and pressure with the highest reported sensitivity($\sim$30%) obtained earlier by a physical deposition technique, making it an extremely good sensor for real life low concentration hydrogen gas detection. The sensor is easy to fabricate and is also extremely cost-effective for commercial applications. The obtained hybrid chemiresistive sensor comprises palladium (Pd) nanocrystals bound by oxygen and nitrogen atoms of a stabilizer Polyvinylepyrollidone (PVP), grown on top of a selfassembled monolayer. The exceptional rise time-constant is proposed to arise from hydrogen loading at the (111) surface of the palladium nanocrystal which is a very fast process and subsequent fast diffusion of the H atoms from the surface into the bulk. An effort to increase the number of available sites by UV-ozone cleaning, resulted in a degradation of the sensing device due to the poisoning of the available sites by oxygen.

This work reports a systematic study of the evolution of charge transport mechanism in granular ultra-thin films of palladium of thickness varying between 6nm and 2nm. While the films with thickness > 4nm exhibit metallic behaviour, that at 3nm thickness undergoes a metal-insulator transition at 19.5K. In contrast, the 2nm thick film remained insulating at all temperatures. with transport following Mott's variable range hopping. At room temperature, while the thicker film exhibit resistance decrease on H$_2$ exposure. the insulating film showed an anomalous initial resistance increase before switching to a subsequent decrease. The nanostructure dependent transport and the ensuing H$_2$ response is modeled on a percolation model, which also explores the relevance of film thickness as a macroscopic control parameter to engineer the desired system response in granular metal films.

A trust-region algorithm using inexact function and derivatives values is introduced for solving unconstrained smooth optimization problems. This algorithm uses high-order Taylor models and allows the search of strong approximate minimizers of arbitrary order. The evaluation complexity of finding a $q$-th approximate minimizer using this algorithm is then shown, under standard conditions, to be $\mathcal{O}\big(\min_{j\in\{1,\ldots,q\}}\epsilon_j^{-(q+1)}\big)$ where the $\epsilon_j$ are the order-dependent requested accuracy thresholds. Remarkably, this order is identical to that of classical trust-region methods using exact information.

V3890 Sgr is a recurrent nova which has been seen in outburst three times so far, with the most recent eruption occurring on 2019 August 27 UT. This latest outburst was followed in detail by the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory, from less than a day after the eruption until the nova entered the Sun observing constraint, with a small number of additional observations after the constraint ended. The X-ray light-curve shows initial hard shock emission, followed by an early start of the super-soft source phase around day 8.5, with the soft emission ceasing by day 26. Together with the peak blackbody temperature of the super-soft spectrum being ~100 eV, these timings suggest the white dwarf mass to be high, ~1.3 M_sun. The UV photometric light-curve decays monotonically, with the decay rate changing a number of times, approximately simultaneously with variations in the X-ray emission. The UV grism spectra show both line and continuum emission, with emission lines of N, C, Mg and O being notable. These UV spectra are best dereddened using an SMC extinction law. Optical spectra from SMARTS show evidence of interaction between the nova ejecta and wind from the donor star, as well as the extended atmosphere of the red giant being flash-ionized by the super-soft X-ray photons. Data from NICER reveal a transient 83 s quasi-periodic oscillation, with a modulation amplitude of 5 per cent, adding to the sample of novae which show such short variabilities during their super-soft phase., Comment: 20 pages, 13 figures (9 in colour). The full version of Table 2 is provided as a PDF within the source file download

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory followed up 18 gravitational wave (GW) triggers from the LIGO/Virgo collaboration during the O3 observing run in 2019/2020, performing approximately 6500 pointings in total. Of these events, four were finally classified (if real) as binary black hole (BH) triggers, six as binary neutron star (NS) events, two each of NSBH and Mass Gap triggers, one an unmodelled (Burst) trigger, and the remaining three were subsequently retracted. Thus far, four of these O3 triggers have been formally confirmed as real gravitational wave events. While no likely electromagnetic counterparts to any of these GW events have been identified in the X-ray data (to an average upper limit of 3.60 x 10^{-12} erg cm^{-2} s^{-1} over 0.3-10 keV), or at other wavelengths, we present a summary of all the Swift-XRT observations performed during O3, together with typical upper limits for each trigger observed. The majority of X-ray sources detected during O3 were previously uncatalogued; while some of these will be new (transient) sources, others are simply too faint to have been detected by earlier survey missions such as ROSAT. The all-sky survey currently being performed by eROSITA will be a very useful comparison for future observing runs, reducing the number of apparent candidate X-ray counterparts by up to 95 per cent., Comment: 23 pages (including 4 pages of references, and a 4 page table in the appendix), 5 figures (4 in colour), accepted for publication in MNRAS. (Replaced due to annoying spelling typo in the abstract.)

We report on results of spectropolarimetry of the afterglow of the long gamma-ray burst GRB 191221B, obtained with SALT/RSS and VLT/FORS2, as well as photometry from two telescopes in the MASTER Global Robotic Network, at the MASTER-SAAO (South Africa) and MASTER-OAFA (Argentina) stations. Prompt optical emission was detected by MASTER-SAAO 38 s after the alert, which dimmed from a magnitude (white-light) of ~10 to 16.2 mag over a period of ~10 ks, followed by a plateau phase lasting ~10 ks and then a decline to ~18 mag after 80 ks. The light curve shows complex structure, with four or five distinct breaks in the power-law decline rate. SALT/RSS linear spectropolarimetry of the afterglow began ~2.9 h after the burst, during the early part of the plateau phase of the light curve. Absorption lines seen at ~6010 \r{A} and 5490 \r{A} are identified with the Mg II 2799 \r{A} line from the host galaxy at z=1.15 and an intervening system located at z=0.96. The mean linear polarisation measured over 3400-8000 \r{A} was ~1.5% and the mean equatorial position angle theta ~65 degrees. VLT/FORS2 spectropolarimetry was obtained ~10 h post-burst, during a period of slow decline (alpha = -0.44), and the polarisation was measured to be p = 1.2% and theta = 60 degrees. Two observations with the MeerKAT radio telescope, taken 30 and 444 days after the GRB trigger, detected radio emission from the host galaxy only. We interpret the light curve and polarisation of this long GRB in terms of a slow-cooling forward-shock., Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS on 19 June 2021; 14 pages, 6 figures

The University of Tasmania Ceduna radio telescope has been used to investigate rapid variability in the radio flux density of the BL Lac object PKS B1144-379 at 6.7 GHz. High-cadence monitoring of this extreme scintillator was carried out over a period of approximately nine years, between 2003 and 2011. We have used structure functions created from the intensity time series to determine the characteristic timescale of the variability. The characteristic timescale is consistently observed to increase during certain periods of each year, demonstrating the annual cycle expected for scintillation through an interstellar scattering screen. The best-fitting annual cycle model for each year suggests that the scintillation pattern has an anisotropic structure and that the upper limit of its scattering screen is at a distance of ~0.84 kpc. Higher anisotropy in some of the annual cycle fits suggests that changes in the intrinsic source structure might be influencing the variability timescale. We found a prominent annual cycle is only present in the variability timescale for certain years where other evidence suggests that the core is compact. From our measurements, we calculated that the core angular size varied between 5.65-15.90 $\mu$as (0.05-0.13 pc). The core component was found to be at its most compact during two flares in the total flux density, which were observed in 2005 and 2008. We conclude that the long-term variability in the radio flux density of PKS B1144-379 is due to intrinsic changes in the source and that these affect our ability to measure an annual cycle in its variability time scale., Comment: 24 pages, 22 figures

Assessing the resilience of a road network is instrumental to improve existing infrastructures and design new ones. Here we apply the optimal path crack model (OPC) to investigate the mobility of road networks and propose a new proxy for resilience of urban mobility. In contrast to static approaches, the OPC accounts for the dynamics of rerouting as a response to traffic jams. Precisely, one simulates a sequence of failures (cracks) at the most vulnerable segments of the optimal origin-destination paths that are capable to collapse the system. Our results with synthetic and real road networks reveal that their levels of disorder, fractions of unidirectional segments and spatial correlations can drastically affect the vulnerability to traffic congestion. By applying the OPC to downtown Boston and Manhattan, we found that Boston is significantly more vulnerable than Manhattan. This is compatible with the fact that Boston heads the list of American metropolitan areas with the highest average time waste in traffic. Moreover, our analysis discloses that the origin of this difference comes from the intrinsic spatial correlations of each road network. Finally, we argue that, due to their global influence, the most important cracks identified with OPC can be used to pinpoint potential small rerouting and structural changes in road networks that are capable to substantially improve urban mobility., Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures

V341 Ara was recently recognised as one of the closest (d ~ 150 pc) and brightest (V~ 10) nova-like cataclysmic variables. This unique system is surrounded by a bright emission nebula, likely to be the remnant of a recent nova eruption. Embedded within this nebula is a prominent bow-shock, where the system's accretion disc wind runs into its own nova shell. In order to establish its fundamental properties, we present the first comprehensive multi-wavelength study of the system. Long-term photometry reveals quasi-periodic, super-orbital variations with a characteristic time-scale of 10-16 days and typical amplitude of ~1 mag. High-cadence photometry from TESS reveals for the first time both the orbital period and a "negative superhump" period. The latter is usually interpreted as the signature of a tilted accretion disc. We propose a recently developed disc instability model as a plausible explanation for the photometric behaviour. In our spectroscopic data, we clearly detect anti-phased absorption and emission line components. Their radial velocities suggest a high mass ratio, which in turn implies an unusually low white dwarf mass. We also constrain the wind mass-loss rate of the system from the spatially resolved [O iii] emission produced in the bow-shock; this can be used to test and calibrate accretion disc wind models. We suggest a possible association between V341 Ara and a "guest star" mentioned in Chinese historical records in AD1240. If this marks the date of the system's nova eruption, V341 Ara would be the oldest recovered nova of its class and an excellent laboratory for testing nova theory., Comment: Accepted in MNRAS

We report on a novel class of nanocrystalline/amorphous Gd$_3$Ni/Gd$_{65}$Ni$_{35}$ composite microwires, which was created directly by melt-extraction through controlled solidification. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed the formation of a biphase nanocrystalline/amorphous structure in these wires. Magnetic and magnetocaloric experiments indicate the large magnetic entropy change (-$\Delta$SM ~9.64 J/kg K) and the large refrigerant capacity (RC ~742.1 J/kg) around the Curie temperature of ~120 K for a field change of 5 T. These values are ~1.5 times larger relative to its bulk counterpart, and are superior to other candidate materials being considered for active magnetic refrigeration in the liquid nitrogen temperature range.

In this work the role of magnetic Landau quantization in the dynamics and spectrum of Diced Lattice charge carriers is studied in terms of the associated pseudospin 1 Green's function. The equations of motion for the 9 matrix elements of this Green's function are formulated in position/frequency representation and are solved explicitly in terms of a closed form integral representation involving only elementary functions. The latter is subsequently expanded in a Laguerre eigenfunction series whose frequency poles identify the discretized energy spectrum for the Landau-quantized Diced Lattice as $\epsilon_n = \pm\sqrt{2(2n+1)\alpha^2 eB}$ ($\alpha\sqrt{2}$ is the characteristic speed for the Diced Lattice) which differs significantly from the nonrelativistic linear dependence of $\epsilon_n$ on $B$, and is similar to the corresponding $\sqrt{B}-$dependence of other Dirac materials (Graphene, Group VI Dichalcogenides).

Lack of directional bonding between two-dimensional crystals like graphene or monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides provides unusual freedom in selection of components for vertical van der Waals heterostructures. However, even for identical layers, their stacking, in particular the relative angle between their crystallographic directions, modifies properties of the structure. We demonstrate that the interatomic coupling between two two-dimensional crystals can be determined from angle-resolved photoemission spectra of a trilayer structure with one aligned and one twisted interface. Each of the interfaces provides complementary information and together they enable self-consistent determination of the coupling. We parametrize interatomic coupling for carbon atoms by studying twisted trilayer graphene and show that the result can be applied to structures with different twists and number of layers. Our approach demonstrates how to extract fundamental information about interlayer coupling in a stack of two-dimensional crystals and can be applied to many other van der Waals interfaces., Comment: This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Nature Communications. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17412-0

We have investigated the role of pseudospin polarization in electron wave packet dynamics in pristine graphene and in a graphene antidot lattice subject to an external magnetic field. Employing a Green's function formalism, we show that the electron dynamics can be controlled by tuning pseudospin polarization. We find that in Landau quantized pristine graphene both the propagation of an electron wave packet and Zitterbewegung oscillations strongly depend on pseudospin polarization. The electron wave packet is found to propagate in the direction of initial pseudospin polarization. We also show that, in this system, the propagation of an electron can be enhanced in any desired direction by carving a one dimensional antidot lattice in that direction. The study suggests that a graphene antidot lattice can serve as a channel for electron transport with the possibility of tunability by means of pseudospin polarization, antidot potential and applied normal magnetic field strength., Comment: This is the version 2 of the article which has been accepted by Journal of Applied Physics for publication. It contains 12 pages and 6 figures

Without a vaccine, the fight against the spreading of the coronavirus has focused on maintaining physical distance. To study the impact of such measures on inter-municipality traffic, we analyze a mobile dataset with the daily flow of people in Portugal in March and April 2020. We find that the reduction in inter-municipality traffic depends strongly on its initial outflow. In municipalities where the mobility is low, the outflow reduced by $10-20\%$ and this decrease was independent of the population size. Whereas, for municipalities of high mobility, the reduction was a monotonic increasing function of the population size and it even exceeded $60\%$ for the largest municipalities. As a consequence of such heterogeneities, there were significant structural changes on the most probable paths for the spreading of the virus, which must be considered when modeling the impact of control measures.

A critical step in tissue engineering is the design and synthesis of 3D biocompatible matrices (scaffolds) to support and guide the proliferation of cells and tissue growth. Most existing techniques rely on the processing of scaffolds under controlled conditions and then implanting them \textit{in vivo}, with questions related to biocompatibility and the implantation process that are still challenging. As an alternative, it was proposed to assemble the scaffolds \textit{in loco} through the self-organization of colloidal particles mediated by cells. In this study, we combine experiments, particle-based simulations, and mean-field calculations to show that, in general, the size of the self-assembled scaffold scales with the cell-to-particle ratio. However, we found an optimal value of this ratio, for which the size of the scaffold is maximal when cell-cell adhesion is suppressed. These results suggest that the size and structure of the self-assembled scaffolds may be designed by tuning the adhesion between cells in the colloidal suspension.

Long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) originate from ultra-relativistic jets launched from the collapsing cores of dying massive stars. They are characterised by an initial phase of bright and highly variable radiation in the keV-MeV band that is likely produced within the jet and lasts from milliseconds to minutes, known as the prompt emission. Subsequently, the interaction of the jet with the external medium generates external shock waves, responsible for the afterglow emission, which lasts from days to months, and occurs over a broad energy range, from the radio to the GeV bands. The afterglow emission is generally well explained as synchrotron radiation by electrons accelerated at the external shock. Recently, an intense, long-lasting emission between 0.2 and 1 TeV was observed from the GRB 190114C. Here we present the results of our multi-frequency observational campaign of GRB~190114C, and study the evolution in time of the GRB emission across 17 orders of magnitude in energy, from $5\times10^{-6}$ up to $10^{12}$\,eV. We find that the broadband spectral energy distribution is double-peaked, with the TeV emission constituting a distinct spectral component that has power comparable to the synchrotron component. This component is associated with the afterglow, and is satisfactorily explained by inverse Compton upscattering of synchrotron photons by high-energy electrons. We find that the conditions required to account for the observed TeV component are not atypical, supporting the possibility that inverse Compton emission is commonly produced in GRBs.

We study the spontaneous folding of a 2D template of microscopic panels into a 3D pyramid, driven by thermal fluctuations. Combining numerical simulations and analytical calculations, we find that the total folding time is a non-monotonic function of the number of faces, with a minimum for five faces. The motion of each face is consistent with a Brownian process and folding occurs through a sequence of irreversible binding events that close edges between pairs of faces. The first edge closing is well-described by a first-passage process in 2D, with a characteristic time that decays with the number of faces. By contrast, the subsequent edge closings are all first-passage processes in 1D and so the time of the last one grows logarithmically with the number of faces. It is the interplay between these two different sets of events that explains the non-monotonic behavior. Implications in the self-folding of more complex structures are discussed.

The recurrent nova (RN) V3890 Sgr was observed during the 7th day after the onset of its most recent outburst, with the Chandra ACIS-S camera and High Energy Transmission Gratings (HETG). A rich emission line spectrum was detected, due to transitions of Fe-L and K-shell ions ranging from neon to iron. The measured absorbed flux is $\approx 10^{-10}$ erg cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$ in the 1.4-15 Angstrom range (0.77-8.86 keV). The line profiles are asymmetric, blue-shifted and skewed towards the blue side, as if the ejecta moving towards us are less absorbed than the receding ones. The full width at half maximum of most emission lines is 1000-1200 km s$^{-1}$, with some extended blue wings. The spectrum is thermal and consistent with a plasma in collisional ionization equilibrium with column density 1.3 $\times 10^{22}$ cm$^{-2}$ and at least two components at temperatures of about 1 keV and 4 keV, possibly a forward and a reverse shock, or regions with differently mixed ejecta and red giant wind. The spectrum is remarkably similar to the symbiotic RNe V745 Sco and RS Oph, but we cannot distinguish whether the shocks occurred at a distance of few AU from the red giant, or near the giant's photosphere, in a high density medium containing only a small mass. The ratios of the flux in lines of aluminum, magnesium and neon relative to the flux in lines of silicon and iron probably indicate a carbon-oxygen white dwarf (CO WD)., Comment: In press on the ApJ

In order to study linker-mediated aggregation of colloidal particles with limited valence, we combine kinetic Monte Carlo simulations and an approximate theory based on the Smoluchowski equations. We found that aggregation depends strongly on two parameters, the ratio of the number of linkers and particles and the ratio of their diffusion coefficients. These control parameters are absent in single-species aggregation and provide a much greater variety and control of the resulting structures. We show that aggregation is non-trivial when two time scales of aggregation are present. Our aggregation dynamics theory is in qualitative and quantitative agreement with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. Our results show how the optimal aggregation may be tuned through the ratio of the linkers and particles and that of the diffusion coefficients.

It is possible to reduce the discrepancy between the local measurement of the cosmological parameter $H_0$ and the value derived from the $Planck$ measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) by considering contamination of the CMB by emission from some medium around distant extragalactic sources, such as extremely cold coarse-grain dust. Though being distant, such a medium would still be in the foreground with respect to the CMB, and, as any other foreground, it would alter the CMB power spectrum. This could contribute to the dispersion of CMB temperature fluctuations. By generating a few random samples of CMB with different dispersions, we have checked that the increased dispersion leads to a smaller estimated value of $H_0$, the rest of the cosmological model parameters remaining fixed. This might explain the reduced value of the $Planck$-derived parameter $H_0$ with respect to the local measurements. The signature of the distant foreground in the CMB traced by SNe was previously reported by the authors of this paper -- we found a correlation between the SN redshifts, $z_{\rm SN}$, and CMB temperature fluctuations at the SNe locations, $T_{\rm SN}$. Here we have used the slopes of the regression lines $T_{\rm SN}\,/\,z_{\rm SN}$ corresponding to different {\it Planck} wave bands in order to estimate the possible temperature of the distant extragalactic medium, which turns out to be very low, about 5\,K. The most likely ingredient of this medium is coarse-grain ($grey$) dust, which is known to be almost undetectable, except for the effect of dimming remote extragalactic sources., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

The class of antiperovskite compounds $A_3B$O ($A$ = Ca, Sr, Ba; $B$ = Sn, Pb) has attracted interest as a candidate 3D Dirac system with topological surface states protected by crystal symmetry. A key factor underlying the rich electronic structure of $A_3B$O is the unusual valence state of $B$, i.e., a formal oxidation state of $-4$. Practically, it is not obvious whether anionic $B$ can be stabilized in thin films, due to its unusual chemistry, as well as the polar surface of $A_3B$O, which may render the growth-front surface unstable. We report X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements of single-crystalline films of Sr$_3$SnO and Sr$_3$PbO grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). We observe shifts in the core-level binding energies that originate from anionic Sn and Pb, consistent with density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Near the surface, we observe additional signatures of neutral or cationic Sn and Pb, which may point to an electronic or atomic reconstruction with possible impact on putative topological surface states., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory carried out prompt searches for gravitational wave (GW) events detected by the LIGO/Virgo Collaboration (LVC) during the second observing run ("O2"). Swift performed extensive tiling of eight LVC triggers, two of which had very low false-alarm rates (GW 170814 and the epochal GW 170817), indicating a high confidence of being astrophysical in origin; the latter was the first GW event to have an electromagnetic counterpart detected. In this paper we describe the follow-up performed during O2 and the results of our searches. No GW electromagnetic counterparts were detected; this result is expected, as GW 170817 remained the only astrophysical event containing at least one neutron star after LVC's later retraction of some events. A number of X-ray sources were detected, with the majority of identified sources being active galactic nuclei. We discuss the detection rate of transient X-ray sources and their implications in the O2 tiling searches. Finally, we describe the lessons learned during O2, and how these are being used to improve the \swift\ follow-up of GW events. In particular, we simulate a population of GRB afterglows to evaluate our source ranking system's ability to differentiate them from unrelated and uncatalogued X-ray sources. We find that $\approx$60-70% of afterglows whose jets are oriented towards Earth will be given high rank (i.e., "interesting" designation) by the completion of our second follow-up phase (assuming their location in the sky was observed), but that this fraction can be increased to nearly 100% by performing a third follow-up observation of sources exhibiting fading behavior., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in ApJS

We present a comprehensive review of all observations of the eclipsing recurrent Nova LMC 1968 in the Large Magellanic Cloud which was previously observed in eruption in 1968, 1990, 2002, 2010, and most recently in 2016. We derive a probable recurrence time of $6.2 \pm 1.2$ years and provide the ephemerides of the eclipse. In the ultraviolet-optical-IR photometry the light curve shows high variability right from the first observation around two days after eruption. Therefore no colour changes can be substantiated. Outburst spectra from 2016 and 1990 are very similar and are dominated by H and He lines longward of 2000 Angstrom. Interstellar reddening is found to be E(B-V) = $0.07\pm0.01$. The super soft X-ray luminosity is lower than the Eddington luminosity and the X-ray spectra suggest the mass of the WD is larger than 1.3 M$_\odot$. Eclipses in the light curve suggest that the system is at high orbital inclination. On day four after the eruption a recombination wave was observed in Fe II ultraviolet absorption lines. Narrow line components are seen after day 6 and explained as being due to reionisation of ejecta from a previous eruption. The UV spectrum varies with orbital phase, in particular a component of the He II 1640 Angstrom emission line, which leads us to propose that early-on the inner WD Roche lobe might be filled with a bound opaque medium prior to the re-formation of an accretion disk. Both this medium and the ejecta can cause the delay in the appearance of the soft X-ray source., Comment: MNRAS accepted October 18, 2019

Muon capture isotope production (MuCIP) using negative ordinary muon capture reactions (OMC) is used to efficiently produce various kinds of nuclear isotopes for both fundamental and applied science studies. The large capture probability of muon into a nucleus, together with the high intensity muon beam, make it possible to produce nuclear isotopes in the order of 10^{9-10} per second depending on the muon beam intensity. Radioactive isotopes (RIs) produced by MuCIP are complementary to those produced by photon and neutron capture reactions and are used for various science and technology applications. MuCIP on ^{Nat}Mo by using the RCNP MuSIC \muon beam is presented to demonstrate the feasibility of MuCIP. Nuclear isotopes produced by MuCIP are evaluated by using a pre-equilibrium (PEQ) and equilibrium (EQ) proton neutron emission model. Radioactive $^{99}$Mo isotopes and the metastable ^{99m}Tc isotopes, which are used extensively in medical science, are produced by MuCIP on ^{Nat}Mo and ^{100}Mo., Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures

We examine the the emission from optically bright gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows as the Ultraviolet and Optical Telescope (UVOT) on the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory first begins observing, following the slew to target the GRB, while the pointing of the Swift satellite is still settling. We verify the photometric quality of the UVOT settling data using bright stars in the field of view. In the majority of cases we find no problems with the settling exposure photometry, but in one case we excise the first second of the exposure to mitigate a spacecraft attitude reconstruction issue, and in a second case we exclude the first second of the exposure in which the UVOT photocathode voltage appears to be ramping up. Of a sample of 23 afterglows which have peak V magnitudes <16, we find that all are detected in the settling exposures, when Swift arrives on target. For 9 of the GRBs the UVOT settling exposure took place before the conclusion of the prompt gamma-ray emission. Five of these GRBs have well defined optical peaks after the settling exposures, with rises of >0.5 mag in their optical lightcurves, and there is a marginal trend for these GRBs to have long T90. Such a trend is expected for thick-shell afterglows, but the temporal indices of the optical rises and the timing of the optical peaks appear to rule out thick shells., Comment: accepted for publication in MNRAS