Topological Dirac states beyond π\pi orbitals for silicene on SiC(0001) surface

The discovery of intriguing properties related to the Dirac states in graphene has spurred huge interest in exploring its two-dimensional group-IV counterparts, such as silicene, germanene, and stanene. However, these materials have to be obtained via synthesizing on substrates with strong interfacial interactions, which usually destroy their intrinsic $\pi$($p_z$)-orbital Dirac states. Here we report a theoretical study on the existence of Dirac states arising from the $p_{x,y}$ orbitals instead of $p_z$ orbitals in silicene on 4H-SiC(0001), which survive in spite of the strong interfacial interactions. We also show that the exchange field together with the spin-orbital coupling give rise to a detectable band gap of 1.3 meV. Berry curvature calculations demonstrate the nontrivial topological nature of such Dirac states with a Chern number $C = 2$, presenting the potential of realizing quantum anomalous Hall effect for silicene on SiC(0001). Finally, we construct a minimal effective model to capture the low-energy physics of this system. This finding is expected to be also applicable to germanene and stanene, and imply great application potentials in nanoelectronics.Comment: 6 Figures , Accepted by Nano Letter

Transition Dependency: A Gene-Gene Interaction Measure for Times Series Microarray Data

Gene-Gene dependency plays a very important role in system biology as it pertains to the crucial understanding of different biological mechanisms. Time-course microarray data provides a new platform useful to reveal the dynamic mechanism of gene-gene dependencies. Existing interaction measures are mostly based on association measures, such as Pearson or Spearman correlations. However, it is well known that such interaction measures can only capture linear or monotonic dependency relationships but not for nonlinear combinatorial dependency relationships. With the invocation of hidden Markov models, we propose a new measure of pairwise dependency based on transition probabilities. The new dynamic interaction measure checks whether or not the joint transition kernel of the bivariate state variables is the product of two marginal transition kernels. This new measure enables us not only to evaluate the strength, but also to infer the details of gene dependencies. It reveals nonlinear combinatorial dependency structure in two aspects: between two genes and across adjacent time points. We conduct a bootstrap-based Ç2 test for presence/absence of the dependency between every pair of genes. Simulation studies and real biological data analysis demonstrate the application of the proposed method. The software package is available under request

Comprehensive Characterization of the Transmitted/Founder env Genes From a Single MSM Cohort in China

Background: The men having sex with men (MSM) population has become one of the major risk groups for HIV-1 infection in China. However, the epidemiological patterns, function of the env genes, and autologous and heterologous neutralization activity in the same MSM population have not been systematically characterized. Methods: The env gene sequences were obtained by the single genome amplification. The time to the most recent common ancestor was estimated for each genotype using the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo approach. Coreceptor usage was determined in NP-2 cells. Neutralization was analyzed using Env pseudoviruses in TZM-bl cells. Results: We have obtained 547 full-length env gene sequences by single genome amplification from 30 acute/early HIV-1–infected individuals in the Beijing MSM cohort. Three genotypes (subtype B, CRF01_AE, and CRF07_BC) were identified and 20% of the individuals were infected with multiple transmitted/founder (T/F) viruses. The tight clusters of the MSM sequences regardless of geographic origins indicated nearly exclusive transmission within the MSM population and limited number of introductions. The time to the most recent common ancestor for each genotype was 10–15 years after each was first introduced in China. Disparate preferences for coreceptor usages among 3 genotypes might lead to the changes in percentage of different genotypes in the MSM population over time. The genotype-matched and genotype-mismatched neutralization activity varied among the 3 genotypes. Conclusions: The identification of unique characteristics for transmission, coreceptor usage, neutralization profile, and epidemic patterns of HIV-1 is critical for the better understanding of transmission mechanisms, development of preventive strategies, and evaluation of vaccine efficacy in the MSM population in China

Can black holes be torn up by phantom dark energy in cyclic cosmology?

Infinitely cyclic cosmology is often frustrated by the black hole problem. It has been speculated that this obstacle in cyclic cosmology can be removed by taking into account a peculiar cyclic model derived from loop quantum cosmology or the braneworld scenario, in which phantom dark energy plays a crucial role. In this peculiar cyclic model, the mechanism of solving the black hole problem is through tearing up black holes by phantom. However, using the theory of fluid accretion onto black holes, we show in this paper that there exists another possibility: that black holes cannot be torn up by phantom in this cyclic model. We discussed this possibility and showed that the masses of black holes might first decrease and then increase, through phantom accretion onto black holes in the expanding stage of the cyclic universe.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; discussions adde

Pt Nanoparticles on Beta zeolites for Catalytic Toluene Oxidation: Effect of the Hydroxyl Groups of Beta Zeolite**

Stabilisation of metal species using hydroxyl-rich dealuminated zeolites is a promising method for catalysis. However, insights into the interactions between the hydroxyl groups in zeolite and noble metals and their effects on catalysis are not yet fully understood. Herein, comparative studies were conducted using Pt catalysts supported on hydroxyl-rich dealuminated Beta (deAl-Beta) and the pristine proton-form Beta (H-Beta) for catalytic oxidation of toluene. The findings suggest that during impregnation the Pt precursor (i. e., Pt(NH3)4(NO3)2) interacted with different sites on deAl-Beta and H-Beta, leading to the formation of supported Pt nanoparticles with different physicochemical properties. In detail, for H-Beta, the Pt precursor interacted with Al-OH and isolated external Si-OH sites, yielding Pt NPs with a higher Pt0 proportion of ~71 % compared to ~57 % Pt0 on deAl-Beta. Comparatively, abundant hydroxyl groups on deAl-Beta such as silanol nest and isolated internal Si-OH stabilised highly active Pt-O species. The resulting Pt/deAl-Beta exhibited improved activity and anti-coking ability than Pt/H-Beta in catalytic toluene oxidation. For example, the temperature for 50 % toluene conversion was 193 °C for Pt/deAl-Beta vs. 232 °C for Pt/H-Beta, and the coke deposition was 1.7 % vs. 6.7 % (after the 24-h longevity test), respectively. According to the toluene-temperature programmed desorption (toluene-TPD), 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) relaxation and in situ diffuse reflection Fourier transform spectroscopy (in situ DRIFTS) characterisation, the enhanced performance of Pt/deAl-Beta could be ascribed to (i) the active Pt-O sites stabilised by hydroxyl groups, which interact with toluene easily for conversion, and (ii) the acid-free feature of the deAl-Beta support, which avoids the formation of coke precursors (such as benzoate species) on the catalyst surface. Findings of the work can serve as the design guidelines for making effective supported metal catalysts using zeolitic carriers

Measurement of the branching fractions of psi(2S) -> 3(pi+pi-) and J/psi -> 2(pi+pi-)

Using data samples collected at sqrt(s) = 3.686GeV and 3.650GeV by the BESII detector at the BEPC, the branching fraction of psi(2S) -> 3(pi+pi-) is measured to be [4.83 +- 0.38(stat) +- 0.69(syst)] x 10^-4, and the relative branching fraction of J/psi -> 2(pi+pi-) to that of J/psi -> mu+mu- is measured to be [5.86 +- 0.19(stat) +- 0.39(syst)]% via psi(2S) -> (pi+pi-)J/psi, J/psi -> 2(pi+pi-). The electromagnetic form factor of 3(pi+pi-) is determined to be 0.21 +- 0.02 and 0.20 +- 0.01 at sqrt(s) = 3.686GeV and 3.650GeV, respectively.Comment: 17pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Search for psi(3770)\ra\rho\pi at the BESII detector at the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider

Non-$D\bar{D}$ decay \psppto \rhopi is searched for using a data sample of $(17.3\pm 0.5) pb^{-1}$ taken at the center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV by the BESII detector at the BEPC. No \rhopi signal is observed, and the upper limit of the cross section is measured to be \sigma(\EETO \rhopi)<6.0 pb at 90% C. L. Considering the interference between the continuum amplitude and the \pspp resonance amplitude, the branching fraction of \pspp decays to $\rho\pi$ is determined to be \BR(\pspp\ra\rho\pi)\in(6.0\times10^{-6}, 2.4\times10^{-3}) at 90% C. L. This is in agreement with the prediction of the $S$- and $D$-wave mixing scheme of the charmonium states for solving the ``\rhopi puzzle'' between \jpsi and \psp decays.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Partial Wave Analysis of χc0→π+π−K+K−\chi_{c0}\to\pi^+\pi^-K^+K^-

A partial wave analysis of $\chi_{c0}\to\pi^+\pi^-K^+K^-$ in $\psi(2S)\to\gamma\chi_{c0}$ decay is presented using a sample of 14 million $\psi(2S)$ events accumulated by the BES II detector. The data are fitted to the sum of relativistic covariant tensor amplitudes for intermediate resonant decay modes. From the fit, significant contributions to $\chi_{c0}$ decays from the channels $f_0(980)f_0(980)$, $f_0(980)f_0(2200)$, $f_0(1370)f_0(1710)$, $K^*(892)^0\bar K^*(892)^0$, $K^*_0(1430)\bar K^*_0(1430)$, $K^*_0(1430)\bar K^*_2(1430) + c.c.$, and $K_1(1270)K$ are found. Flavor-SU(3)-violating $K_1(1270)-K_1(1400)$ asymmetry is observed. Values obtained for the masses and widths of the resonances $f_0(1710)$, $f_0(2200)$, $f_0(1370)$, and $K^*_0(1430)$ are presented.Comment: 16 pages, 9 figures, and 4 table