Search

Excited states of 117Sn have been populated using the fusion-evaporation reaction 114Cd(7Li, 1p3n) at a beam energy of 48[Formula: see text]MeV. A total of nine new transitions have been identified and added into the level scheme of 117Sn. Based on the systematical comparisons with the neighboring Sn isotopes and the configuration-fixed constrained triaxial relativistic mean-field (RMF) calculations, a collective structure and two isomers are proposed to exist in 117Sn. The phenomenon of shape coexistence has been extended to A = 117 in odd-A Sn isotopes for the first time.

The isomer depletion of ^{93m}Mo was recently reported [Chiara et al., Nature (London) 554, 216 (2018)NATUAS0028-083610.1038/nature25483] as the first direct observation of nuclear excitation by electron capture (NEEC). However, the measured excitation probability of 1.0(3)% is far beyond the theoretical expectation. In order to understand the inconsistency between theory and experiment, we produce the ^{93m}Mo nuclei using the ^{12}C(^{86}Kr,5n) reaction at a beam energy of 559 MeV and transport the reaction residues to a detection station far away from the target area employing a secondary beam line. The isomer depletion is expected to occur during the slowdown process of the ions in the stopping material. In such a low γ-ray background environment, the signature of isomer depletion is not observed, and an upper limit of 2×10^{-5} is estimated for the excitation probability. This is consistent with the theoretical expectation. Our findings shed doubt on the previously reported NEEC phenomenon and highlight the necessity and feasibility of further experimental investigations for reexamining the isomer depletion under low γ-ray background.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) in diabetes mellitus includes diabetic kidney disease (DKD), non-diabetic kidney disease (NDKD) or a combination of NDKD and DKD. The clinical and renal pathological manifestations of DKD in type 1 diabetes are different from those in type 2 diabetes. Renal biopsy histopathology is the gold standard for distinguishing DKD from NDKD. However, based on the same pathological diagnosis, DKD patients may still have different disease progression and prognosis due to individual differences in molecular biological mechanisms. Metabonomics, proteomics, transcriptomics and artificial intelligence offer hope for biomarkers to diagnose and predict the progress of DKD.糖尿病中的慢性肾脏病（CKD）包括糖尿病肾病（DKD）、非DKD（NDKD）或NDKD和DKD的组合。1型糖尿病中的DKD在临床和肾组织病理表现上均与2型糖尿病的DKD有所不同，肾穿刺组织病理学是鉴别DKD和NDKD的金标准。然而基于同样的病理诊断，DKD患者仍然可以因为分子生物学机制的个体化差异，导致病程的进展和预后各不相同，代谢组学、蛋白组学、转录组学以及人工智能为探索诊断和预测DKD进展的生物标志物带来了希望。.

A new α-emitting isotope ^{214}U, produced by the fusion-evaporation reaction ^{182}W(^{36}Ar,4n)^{214}U, was identified by employing the gas-filled recoil separator SHANS and the recoil-α correlation technique. More precise α-decay properties of even-even nuclei ^{216,218}U were also measured in the reactions of ^{40}Ar, ^{40}Ca beams with ^{180,182,184}W targets. By combining the experimental data, improved α-decay reduced widths δ^{2} for the even-even Po-Pu nuclei in the vicinity of the magic neutron number N=126 are deduced. Their systematic trends are discussed in terms of the N_{p}N_{n} scheme in order to study the influence of proton-neutron interaction on α decay in this region of nuclei. It is strikingly found that the reduced widths of ^{214,216}U are significantly enhanced by a factor of two as compared with the N_{p}N_{n} systematics for the 84≤Z≤90 and N126 even-even nuclei. The abnormal enhancement is interpreted by the strong monopole interaction between the valence protons and neutrons occupying the π1f_{7/2} and ν1f_{5/2} spin-orbit partner orbits, which is supported by the large-scale shell model calculation.

The lifetimes of the I π = 33/2+ and I π = 25/2− states with E x = 2674.6 keV and E x = 1917.3 keV, respectively, in 189Hg have been determined by using the fast-timing techniques with the HPGe and LaBr3:Ce array via the 175Lu(19F, 5n)189Hg reaction at a beam energy of 100 MeV. The deduced B(E2) strengths have been discussed in relation to the systematics of the previously reported B(E2) strengths in the heavy mercury isotopes. The transition quadrupole moments Q t are derived from present experimental data. The Q t values together with the excitation energies of the (+, 0)(+, 1/2) and (+, 0)(−, 1/2) bands are interpreted in terms of the Nilsson–Strutinsky–Bogoliubov model (CNSB) calculations suggesting oblate excitations in 189Hg.

We report on a comparison between the theoretically predicted and experimentally measured spectra of the first-forbidden nonunique β-decay transition ^{137}Xe(7/2^{-})→^{137}Cs(7/2^{+}). The experimental data were acquired by the EXO-200 experiment during a deployment of an AmBe neutron source. The ultralow background environment of EXO-200, together with dedicated source deployment and analysis procedures, allowed for collection of a pure sample of the decays, with an estimated signal to background ratio of more than 99 to 1 in the energy range from 1075 to 4175 keV. In addition to providing a rare and accurate measurement of the first-forbidden nonunique β-decay shape, this work constitutes a novel test of the calculated electron spectral shapes in the context of the reactor antineutrino anomaly and spectral bump.

We report on a comparison between the theoretically predicted and experimentally measured spectra of the first-forbidden nonunique β-decay transition ^{137}Xe(7/2^{-})→^{137}Cs(7/2^{+}). The experimental data were acquired by the EXO-200 experiment during a deployment of an AmBe neutron source. The ultralow background environment of EXO-200, together with dedicated source deployment and analysis procedures, allowed for collection of a pure sample of the decays, with an estimated signal to background ratio of more than 99 to 1 in the energy range from 1075 to 4175 keV. In addition to providing a rare and accurate measurement of the first-forbidden nonunique β-decay shape, this work constitutes a novel test of the calculated electron spectral shapes in the context of the reactor antineutrino anomaly and spectral bump.

The aim of this study was to investigate the level of circ-0003998 in osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines, and to analyze its relation with prognosis of patients, as well as its effect on biological behaviors of osteosarcoma cells. In addition, the potential mechanism of circ-0003998 in promoting osteosarcoma cell proliferation and invasion was explored.Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to examine circ-0003998 expression in 60 clinical osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines. The association between circ-0003998 expression and the overall survival rate of patients was explored. After shRNA-circ-0003998 was constructed to down-regulate circ-0003998 expression in osteosarcoma cell lines, the proliferation of osteosarcoma cells was observed through the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and colony formation assay. Meanwhile, cell invasiveness was detected by the transwell invasion assay. Bioinformatics was used to search for microRNAs (miRNAs) that contained the direct effect on circ-0003998. Subsequently, the luciferase reporter vector of circ-0003998 or Krüppel-like factor 10 (KLF10) containing miR-197-3p binding site was constructed. Then, the binding of circ-0003998 or KLF10 to miR-197 was detected using the Dual-Luciferase assay. Furthermore, the function recovery experiment was designed to validate the biological function of circ-0003998 and miR-197 in osteosarcoma.Compared to normal control tissues and cells, the expression of circ-0003998 was significantly up-regulated in both osteosarcoma tissue samples and cell lines. Highly-expressed circ-0003998 was significantly associated with poor overall survival of patients with osteosarcoma. In vitro experiments revealed that the down-regulation of circ-0003998 significantly inhibited the proliferative ability and invasiveness of osteosarcoma cells. Bioinformatics analysis and Dual-Luciferase reporter gene assay indicated that circ-0003998 might bind to miR-197-3p in MG-63, and Saos-2 cell lines. Meanwhile, the functional recovery experiment demonstrated that inhibiting miR-197-3p expression could partially restore the changes in cellular biological behaviors induced by circ-0003998 down-regulation in MG-63 and Saos-2 cells. In addition, miR-197-3p was remarkably down-regulated in osteosarcoma tissues, while KLF10 was up-regulated. However, KLF10 was significantly up-regulated after the knockdown of miR-197-3p in osteosarcoma cells.Circ-0003998 plays a vital role in promoting the development of osteosarcoma, whose high expression can predict poor clinical prognosis. Circ-0003998 is highly expressed in osteosarcoma tissues and cell lines. The down-regulation of its level can significantly inhibit the proliferative ability and invasiveness of osteosarcoma cells. Meanwhile, circ-0003998 up-regulates the expression of KLF10 by binding to miR-197-3p, thereby promoting osteosarcoma cell growth and invasion, and accelerating the progression of osteosarcoma.

Measurements of electron drift properties in liquid and gaseous xenon are reported. The electrons are generated by the photoelectric effect in a semi-transparent gold photocathode driven in transmission mode with a pulsed ultraviolet laser. The charges drift and diffuse in a small chamber at various electric fields and a fixed drift distance of 2.0 cm. At an electric field of 0.5 kV/cm, the measured drift velocities and corresponding temperature coefficients respectively are 1 . 97 ± 0 . 04 m m ∕ μ s and ( − 0 . 69 ± 0 . 05 ) %/K for liquid xenon, and 1 . 42 ± 0 . 03 m m ∕ μ s and ( + 0 . 11 ± 0 . 01 ) %/K for gaseous xenon at 1.5 bar. In addition, we measure longitudinal diffusion coefficients of 25 . 7 ± 4 . 6 cm 2 /s and 149 ± 23 cm 2 /s, for liquid and gas, respectively. The quantum efficiency of the gold photocathode is studied at the photon energy of 4.73 eV in liquid and gaseous xenon, and vacuum. These charge transport properties and the behavior of photocathodes in a xenon environment are important in designing and calibrating future large scale noble liquid detectors.

A search for neutrinoless double-beta decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$) in $^{136}$Xe is performed with the full EXO-200 dataset using a deep neural network to discriminate between $0\nu\beta\beta$ and background events. Relative to previous analyses, the signal detection efficiency has been raised from 80.8% to 96.4$\pm$3.0% and the energy resolution of the detector at the Q-value of $^{136}$Xe $0\nu\beta\beta$ has been improved from $\sigma/E=1.23\%$ to $1.15\pm0.02\%$ with the upgraded detector. Accounting for the new data, the median 90% confidence level $0\nu\beta\beta$ half-life sensitivity for this analysis is $5.0 \cdot 10^{25}$ yr with a total $^{136}$Xe exposure of 234.1 kg$\cdot$yr. No statistically significant evidence for $0\nu\beta\beta$ is observed, leading to a lower limit on the $0\nu\beta\beta$ half-life of $3.5\cdot10^{25}$ yr at the 90% confidence level., Comment: v1, 7 pages, 5 figures; v2, fix references; v3, update to accepted version

A modified multi-objective harmony search algorithm called Niching Multi-objective Harmony Search Algorithm (NMOHSA) is proposed to solve multimodal multi-objective optimization problems. It adopts the neighborhood information to build dynamic harmony memory for maintaining the population diversity. A new memory consideration rule is also applied to prevent the algorithm be trapped into local optimal solution. Moreover, two key parameters, harmony memory consideration rate (HMCR) and pitch adjustment rate (PAR), are dynamically adjusted. Empirical results show that the proposed algorithm performs much better than the other existing multimodal multi-objective algorithms in terms of the solution quality.

A modified multi-objective bat algorithm called Performance Enhanced Niching Multi-objective Bat algorithm (PEN-MOBA) is proposed to solve multimodal multi-objective optimization problems. It adopts a dynamic ring topology to form stable niches for maintaining the population diversity, and integrates the stagnation detection strategy to improve the searching ability. The algorithm is compared with a number of state-of-the-art multimodal multi-objective optimizers on twelve multimodal multi-objective test functions. The experimental results verify that the proposed algorithm is effective multimodal multi-objective optimizers and outperforms the existing algorithms on the test functions.

Characterization of the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) reflectance of silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) is important for large-scale SiPM-based photodetector systems. We report the angular dependence of the specular reflectance in a vacuum of SiPMs manufactured by Fondazionc Bruno Kessler (FBK) and Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (HPK) over wavelengths ranging from 120 nm to 280 nm. Refractive index and extinction coefficient of the thin silicon-dioxide film deposited on the surface of the FBK SiPMs are derived from reflectance data of a FBK silicon wafer with the same deposited oxide film as SiPMs. The diffuse reflectance of SiPMs is also measured at 193 nm. We use the VUV spectral dependence of the optical constants to predict the reflectance of the FBK silicon wafer and FBK SiPMs in liquid xenon.

Understanding reflective properties of materials and photodetection efficiency (PDE) of photodetectors is important for optimizing energy resolution and sensitivity of the next generation neutrinoless double beta decay, direct detection dark matter, and neutrino oscillation experiments that will use noble liquid gases, such as nEXO, DARWIN, DarkSide-20k, and DUNE. Little information is currently available about reflectivity and PDE in liquid noble gases, because such measurements are difficult to conduct in a cryogenic environment and at short enough wavelengths. Here we report a measurement of specular reflectivity and relative PDE of Hamamatsu VUV4 silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) with 50 micrometer micro-cells conducted with xenon scintillation light (~175 nm) in liquid xenon. The specular reflectivity at 15 deg. incidence of three samples of VUV4 SiPMs is found to be 30.4+/-1.4%, 28.6+/-1.3%, and 28.0+/-1.3%, respectively. The PDE at normal incidence differs by +/-8% (standard deviation) among the three devices. The angular dependence of the reflectivity and PDE was also measured for one of the SiPMs. Both the reflectivity and PDE decrease as the angle of incidence increases. This is the first measurement of an angular dependence of PDE and reflectivity of a SiPM in liquid xenon., Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, 6 tables. As accepted by JINST

Liquid xenon (LXe) is employed in a number of current and future detectors for rare event searches. We use the EXO-200 experimental data to measure the absolute scintillation and ionization yields generated by $\gamma$ interactions from $^{228}$Th (2615~keV), $^{226}$Ra (1764~keV) and $^{60}$Co (1332~keV and 1173~keV) calibration sources, over a range of electric fields. The $W$-value that defines the recombination-independent energy scale is measured to be $11.5~\pm~0.5$~(syst.)~$\pm~0.1$~(stat.) eV. These data are also used to measure the recombination fluctuations in the number of electrons and photons produced by the calibration sources at the MeV-scale, which deviate from extrapolations of lower-energy data. Additionally, a semi-empirical model for the energy resolution of the detector is developed, which is used to constrain the recombination efficiency, i.e., the fraction of recombined electrons that result in the emission of a detectable photon. Detailed measurements of the absolute charge and light yields for MeV-scale electron recoils are important for predicting the performance of future neutrinoless double beta decay detectors.

A novel ladder-like polymeric silver(I) complex, [Ag2L2] n •2nH2O, where L is 3-aminopyrazine- 2-carboxylate, was obtained by the reaction of 3-aminopyrazine-2-carboxylic acid and silver oxide in aqueous ammonia. The complex was characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra and single crystal X-ray determination. The smallest repeat unit contains a [Ag2L2] moiety and two water molecules. The Ag•••Ag distance is 3.176(1) A. Each Ag atom is in a Y-shaped coordination, with one carboxylate O and two pyrazine N atoms from two ligands. In the crystal structure of the complex, the dinuclear silver moieties are linked through 3-aminopyrazine-2-carboxylate ligands, to form 1D ladder-like chain along the b axis. The water molecules are linked to the silver chain through hydrogen bonds. There are π•••π interactions between the chains. The complex showed effective cytotoxic property on human lung cancer cell line A549.

The pedestal structure of the high-confinement mode (H-mode) operation strongly impacts global confinement and fusion performance in tokamak devices. Studies of the pedestal structure also play an important role in better understanding the characterization of H-mode plasma discharges with type-I edge localized modes on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The EPED model has been widely validated to predict the pedestal structure of several tokamak devices. The mean pedestal width Δ ψ correlates with the square root of the poloidal pedestal beta β p , p e d 1 / 2 and is in good agreement with Δ ψ = 0.12 β p , p e d 1 / 2 from experimental observations. It is also found that the scaling coefficients of Δ ψ and β p , p e d 1 / 2 may have no dependence on the heating schemes. The comparison of predictions with measurements indicates that the REPED model could be used to predict the pedestal height for a range of experimental pedestal pressures ( 1.7 < p p e d < 2.6 kPa ) on EAST.

An ordinary-mode polarized multi-channel correlation reflectometer has been developed on the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST). The system with four different probing frequencies (i.e., 20.4 GHz, 24.8 GHz, 33 GHz, and 40 GHz) and two poloidally spaced receiving antennas can realize both the radial correlation measurement and the poloidal correlation measurement. These diagnostics focus on the measurement of density fluctuation in the pedestal region to investigate the turbulence transport and H-mode physics on EAST. In this article, the system hardware design, the key component tests, and the system performance are shown in detail.

An axisymmetric magnetic oscillation (AMO) of 5–10 kHz in the L-mode plasma edge has been studied on an experimental advanced superconducting tokamak. The analysis shows that this oscillation only occurs at the plasma very close to the L-H transition. The structure of magnetic oscillation is axisymmetric (n = 0) toroidally and demonstrates an m = 2 standing wave in the poloidal direction. The density fluctuation of AMO measured by reflectometry at the midplane is nearly in phase, indicating that the AMO is not a radial traveling wave. The AMO shows an obvious modulation effect on the background magnetic/density fluctuation, and as a result, the edge density/density gradient and particle flux onto the divertor are also modulated by the AMO. The frequency scaling of the AMO is f m ∝ ( ∇ n e / I p 2 ) − 1. The bicoherence analyses show a strong nonlinear interaction between the AMO and the background turbulence, and other nonlinear interactions between the AMO and three other coherent fluctuations with frequencies (∼4, ∼11, and ∼15 kHz) are also found.An axisymmetric magnetic oscillation (AMO) of 5–10 kHz in the L-mode plasma edge has been studied on an experimental advanced superconducting tokamak. The analysis shows that this oscillation only occurs at the plasma very close to the L-H transition. The structure of magnetic oscillation is axisymmetric (n = 0) toroidally and demonstrates an m = 2 standing wave in the poloidal direction. The density fluctuation of AMO measured by reflectometry at the midplane is nearly in phase, indicating that the AMO is not a radial traveling wave. The AMO shows an obvious modulation effect on the background magnetic/density fluctuation, and as a result, the edge density/density gradient and particle flux onto the divertor are also modulated by the AMO. The frequency scaling of the AMO is f m ∝ ( ∇ n e / I p 2 ) − 1. The bicoherence analyses show a strong nonlinear interaction between the AMO and the background turbulence, and other nonlinear interactions between the AMO and three other coherent fluct...

LncRNAs HULC has been reported to be important regulators in the development of various human diseases. However, the role of HULC in bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) remains unclear. The present study aimed to explore the regulatory effect of HULC on proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs and the underlying mechanism.The expression of HULC and miR-195 in BMSCs were altered by transfection and measured by qRT-PCR. Cell viability was measured by the CCK-8 assay. Osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs was determined by evaluation of osteogenic markers (Ocn, ALP, Runx2, and Col-1) expression levels using Western blot and qRT-PCR. Furthermore, Western blot was performed to assess the expression of proliferation-related factors, Wnt/β-catenin and p38MAPK pathway-related factors.HULC overexpression significantly increased cell viability, down-regulated p21 expression but up-regulated CyclinD1 expression, and promoted the levels of osteogenic markers. However, the complete opposite effect was observed in HULC knockdown. Notably, miR-195 expression was negatively regulated by HULC and miR-195 exerted a reversed effect of HULC on BMSCs. Moreover, miR-195 mediated the regulatory effect of HULC on BMSCs proliferation and osteogenic differentiation, as miR-195 mimic abolished the effect of HULC overexpression on BMSCs. We also found that HULC overexpression enhanced the activation of Wnt/β-catenin and p38MAPK pathway through down-regulating miR-195.We revealed that HULC promoted proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. The potential mechanism might be involved in its negative regulation on miR-195 and enhanced activation of Wnt/β-catenin and p38MAPK pathway.

To investigate the expression of human long non-coding ribonucleic acid (RNA) small nucleolar RNA host gene 15 (SNHG15) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues and its prognostic significance, and to study the influencing mechanism of SNHG15 on biological functions in lung cancer cell lines.The expression levels of SNHG15 in 49 pairs of lung cancer tissues and para-carcinoma tissues were detected via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The lung cancer cells were transiently transfected with small-interfering (si)-SNHG15 using RNA interference technique. The effect of si-SNHG15 on the proliferation of lung cancer cells was observed via methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) assay, its effect on apoptosis of A549 cells was detected via Hoechst 33342 staining and flow cytometry, and its effects on invasion and migration of A549 cells were studied via wound healing assay and transwell assay.Results of qRT-PCR showed that the expression of SNHG15 in cancer tissues was increased compared with that in para-carcinoma tissues. Results of cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay showed that knocking down SNHG15 could significantly inhibit the proliferation of lung cancer A549 cells. Hoechst 33342 staining and flow cytometry revealed that knocking down SNHG15 could significantly promote apoptosis of A549 cells. Wound healing assay and transwell assay revealed that knocking down SNHG15 could significantly inhibit the invasion and metastasis capacities of lung cancer A549 cells. Results of Western blotting showed that knocking down SNHG15 could inhibit the invasion and metastasis of A549 cells through inhibiting the expressions of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and MMP-9 in cells.The expression of SNHG15 in lung cancer tissues is significantly higher than that in para-carcinoma tissues, the prognosis of patients accompanied with a high expression of SNHG15 is poor, and knockdown of SNHG15 in A549 cells can inhibit cell proliferation, invasion, and metastasis, and promote apoptosis.

We apply deep neural networks (DNN) to data from the EXO-200 experiment. In the studied cases, the DNN is able to reconstruct the relevant parameters - total energy and position - directly from raw digitized waveforms, with minimal exceptions. For the first time, the developed algorithms are evaluated on real detector calibration data. The accuracy of reconstruction either reaches or exceeds what was achieved by the conventional approaches developed by EXO-200 over the course of the experiment. Most existing DNN approaches to event reconstruction and classification in particle physics are trained on Monte Carlo simulated events. Such algorithms are inherently limited by the accuracy of the simulation. We describe a unique approach that, in an experiment such as EXO-200, allows to successfully perform certain reconstruction and analysis tasks by training the network on waveforms from experimental data, either reducing or eliminating the reliance on the Monte Carlo., Accepted version. 33 pages, 28 figures

A search for instability of nucleons bound in Xe136 nuclei is reported with 223 kg·yr exposure of Xe136 in the EXO-200 experiment. Lifetime limits of 3.3×1023 and 1.9×1023 yr are established for nucleon decay to Sb133 and Te133, respectively. These are the most stringent to date, exceeding the prior decay limits by a factor of 9 and 7, respectively.

CITATION: Niu, C. Y., et al. 2018. Spectroscopic study of the possibly triaxial transitional nucleus 75Ge. Physical Review C, 97(3):034322, doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.97.034322.

Two mononuclear manganese(III) complexes, [MnL1(OH2)(CH3OH)]·ClO4 (1) and [MnL2] (2), where L1 and L2 are the deprotonated forms of N,N′-bis(5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine and tris{2-[(3,5-dichlorosalicylidene)amino]ethyl}amine, respectively, are obtained by the reaction of Schiff bases with manganese perchlorate in methanol. The complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra, and single crystal X-ray determination. In both complexes, Mn atoms are in the octahedral coordination. In the crystal structure of complex 1, the complex molecules are linked by water ligands through intermolecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds to form dimers. The perchlorate anions are linked to the complex molecules through intermolecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds. In the crystal structure of complex 2, the molecules are stacked along the y axis through π⋯π interactions. The catalytic oxidation on olefins of the complexes is studied.

We describe the design, installation, and operation of a purification system that is able to provide large volumes of high purity ASTM (D1193-91) Type-I water to a high energy physics experiment. The water environment is underground in a lightly sealed system, and this provides significant challenges to maintaining high purity in the storage pools, each of which contains several thousand cubic meters. High purity is dictated by the need for large optical absorption length, which is critical for the operation of the experiment. The system is largely successful, and the water clarity criteria are met. We also include a discussion of lessons learned., Comment: Keywords: High purity water, Deionization

Two mononuclear manganese(III) complexes, [Mn(L)(NCS)] (I) and [Mn(L)(OH2)2] · Hfac · H2O (II), where L is the deprotonated form of N,N′-bis(5-fluoro-2-hydroxybenzylidene)ethane-1,2-diamine, Hfac is hexafluoroacetylacetonate, were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra and single crystal X-ray determination (CIF files CCDC nos. 1008309 (I), 1008310 (II)). The Mn atoms in both complexes are in octahedral coordination. Complex I crystallized in orthorhombic space group Pbca with unit cell dimensions a = 12.4090(4), b = 13.5432(5), c = 19.4637(7) A, V = 3271.0(2) A3, Z = 8, R1 = 0.0423, wR2 = 0.0922. Complex II crystallized in triclinic space group \(P\bar 1\) with unit cell dimensions a = 7.6845(3), b = 88.984(2), c = 13.5522(7) A, α = 78.369(1)°, β = 88.984(2)°, γ = 83.835(1)°, V = 1237.63(9) A3, Z = 2, R1 = 0.0526, wR2 = 0.1421. In the crystal structure of I, the complex molecules are stack via π⋯π interactions along the y axis. In the crystal structure of II, the molecules are linked through intermolecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, to form chains along the x axis. The catalytic oxidation on olefins of the complexes was studied.

The next-generation Enriched Xenon Observatory (nEXO) is a proposed experiment to search for neutrinoless double beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay in $^{136}$Xe with a target half-life sensitivity of approximately $10^{28}$ years using $5\times10^3$ kg of isotopically enriched liquid-xenon in a time projection chamber. This improvement of two orders of magnitude in sensitivity over current limits is obtained by a significant increase of the $^{136}$Xe mass, the monolithic and homogeneous configuration of the active medium, and the multi-parameter measurements of the interactions enabled by the time projection chamber. The detector concept and anticipated performance are presented based upon demonstrated realizable background rates., Comment: v2 as published

Results from a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay $0\nu\beta\beta$ of $^{136}$Xe are presented using the first year of data taken with the upgraded EXO-200 detector. Relative to previous searches by EXO-200, the energy resolution of the detector has been improved to $\sigma/E$=1.23%, the electric field in the drift region has been raised by 50%, and a system to suppress radon in the volume between the cryostat and lead shielding has been implemented. In addition, analysis techniques that improve topological discrimination between $0\nu\beta\beta$ and background events have been developed. Incorporating these hardware and analysis improvements, the median 90% confidence level $0\nu\beta\beta$ half-life sensitivity after combining with the full data set acquired before the upgrade has increased 2-fold to $3.7 \times 10^{25}$ yr. No statistically significant evidence for $0\nu\beta\beta$ is observed, leading to a lower limit on the $0\nu\beta\beta$ half-life of $1.8\times10^{25}$ yr at the 90% confidence level., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, final version submitted to PRL

A new design for the anode of a time projection chamber, consisting of a charge-detecting "tile", is investigated for use in large scale liquid xenon detectors. The tile is produced by depositing 60 orthogonal metal charge-collecting strips, 3~mm wide, on a 10~\si{\cm} $\times$ 10~\si{\cm} fused-silica wafer. These charge tiles may be employed by large detectors, such as the proposed tonne-scale nEXO experiment to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay. Modular by design, an array of tiles can cover a sizable area. The width of each strip is small compared to the size of the tile, so a Frisch grid is not required. A grid-less, tiled anode design is beneficial for an experiment such as nEXO, where a wire tensioning support structure and Frisch grid might contribute radioactive backgrounds and would have to be designed to accommodate cycling to cryogenic temperatures. The segmented anode also reduces some degeneracies in signal reconstruction that arise in large-area crossed-wire time projection chambers. A prototype tile was tested in a cell containing liquid xenon. Very good agreement is achieved between the measured ionization spectrum of a $^{207}$Bi source and simulations that include the microphysics of recombination in xenon and a detailed modeling of the electrostatic field of the detector. An energy resolution $\sigma/E$=5.5\% is observed at 570~\si{keV}, comparable to the best intrinsic ionization-only resolution reported in literature for liquid xenon at 936~V/\si{cm}., Comment: 18 pages, 13 figures, as published

The reflectometry diagnostics on experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST) are composed of Q-band (32–56 GHz), V-band (48–76 GHz) and W-band (72–110 GHz) microwave reflectometers with X-mode polarization. The three reflectometers with separate frequency bands were launched independently in previous experiments and now are combined together by applying advanced microwave technology. A quasi-optical (QO) combiner/de-combiner by using frequency selective surfaces (FSSs) has been built to combine the three bands so that these waves (32–110 GHz) can be transmitted to the antenna by using one single oversized waveguide. Two double-ridged horns are used for launcher and receiver. The received waves are decoupled by using a QO de-combiner, the same with the combiner. The designed parameters and laboratory test results of the upgraded system have been presented. The density pedestal evolution during the edge localized modes (ELMs) in EAST plasma have been presented as an example for the application of the updated reflectometers.

Poloidally localized density fluctuation with applied and spontaneous 3-D fields in high-confinement mode (H-mode) plasma is observed by using poloidally distributed multichannel interferometer diagnostics in the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak. With the application of an n = 1 rotating nonaxisymmetric magnetic perturbation (NAMP) field, a density fluctuation appears on different interferometer channels sequentially. Evidence shows that this fluctuation is located at the plasma edge. When an n = 1 static NAMP field is applied, the density fluctuation amplitude increases in parts of channels but decreases in other channels, implying a poloidal localization. This localization is enhanced with the increase in the NAMP field. In addition, when a spontaneous n = 1 external kink mode with a frequency of ∼3.5 kHz appears in the plasma edge, the amplitude of density fluctuation is modulated by the n = 1 kink. This modulation could be attributed to the localization effect on fluctuation by the 3-D fields of the spontaneous kink mode.