LHC searches for the CP-odd Higgs by the jet substructure analysis

The LHC searches for the CP-odd Higgs boson is studied (with masses from 300 GeV to 1 TeV) in the context of the general two-Higgs-doublet model. With the discovery of the 125 GeV Higgs boson at the LHC, we highlight one promising discovery channel of the hZ. This channel can become significant after the global signal fitting to the 125 GeV Higgs boson in the general two-Higgs-doublet model. It is particularly important in the scenario where two CP-even Higgs bosons in the two-Higgs-doublet model have the common mass of 125 GeV. Since the final states involve a Standard-Model-like Higgs boson, we apply the jet substructure analysis of the fat Higgs jet in order to eliminate the Standard Model background sufficiently. After performing the kinematic cuts, we present the LHC search sensitivities for the CP-odd Higgs boson with mass up to 1 TeV via this channel.Comment: 26 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

XQC and CSR constraints on strongly interacting dark matter with spin and velocity dependent cross sections

Dark matter that interacts strongly with baryons can avoid the stringent dark matter direct detection constraints, because, like baryons, they are likely to be absorbed when traversing the rocks, leading to a suppressed flux in deep underground labs. Such strongly interacting dark matter, however, can be probed by dark matter experiments or other experiments operated on the ground level or in the atmosphere. In this paper we carry out systematic analysis of two of these experiments, XQC and CSR, to compute the experimental constraints on the strongly interacting dark matter in the following three scenarios: (1) spin-independent and spin-dependent interactions; (2) different velocity dependent cross sections; (3) different dark matter mass fractions. Some of the scenarios are first analyzed in the literature. We find that the XQC exclusion region has some non-trivial dependencies on the various parameters and the limits in the spin-dependent case is quite different from the spin-independent case. A peculiar region in the parameter space, where the XQC constraint disappears, is also found in our Monte Carlo simulations. This occurs in the case where the interaction cross section is proportional to the square of the velocity. We further compare our XQC and CSR limits to other experimental constraints, and find that a large parameter space is allowed by various experiments if the dark matter mass fraction is sufficiently small, $f_\chi\lesssim 10^{-4}$.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figures. v2: added references, more CMB and Lyman-alpha constraints, conclusion unchanged. v3: journal versio

On the Universal Approximation Property of Deep Fully Convolutional Neural Networks

We study the approximation of shift-invariant or equivariant functions by deep fully convolutional networks from the dynamical systems perspective. We prove that deep residual fully convolutional networks and their continuous-layer counterpart can achieve universal approximation of these symmetric functions at constant channel width. Moreover, we show that the same can be achieved by non-residual variants with at least 2 channels in each layer and convolutional kernel size of at least 2. In addition, we show that these requirements are necessary, in the sense that networks with fewer channels or smaller kernels fail to be universal approximators

Research progress of biomass carbon materials as anode materials for potassium-ion batteries

Biochar materials have attracted people’s attention because of their environmental friendliness, abundant resources, and the use of waste resources for reuse. As a potassium-ion anode material, biomass char materials synthesized by different methods have broad application prospects. However, due to the problems of low initial magnification and limited potassium-storage capacity, it is necessary to improve the electrochemical performance through modifications, such as atomic doping. Atomic doping is an effective way to improve battery conductivity and potassium storage. In this paper, the synthesis method of biochar as an anode material for potassium-ion batteries and the influence of atomic doping on its modification in recent years are reviewed

External Field Effect on Electronic and Vibrational Properties of Carotenoids

Resonance Raman spectroscopy is one of the most popular molecular spectroscopy methods. Using this technique, carbon-carbon (CC) vibration can be well investigated and give much information on π-conjugated system. The CC vibration has a strong dependence on the π-electron band gap, which is able to be characterized by absorption spectroscopy. Electron-phonon coupling will strongly influence the Raman intensity and shows sensitivity to the surrounding environment. Through electron-phonon coupling, CC vibration can be modulated by the π-electron band gap. In this review, we present our absorption and Raman-scattering observations of all-trans-beta-carotene from different environment such as temperature, pressure, solvents, and phase transition. The relationship between π-electron band gap and CC vibration is studied. With the decreasing of the π-electron energy, the modulation on CC vibration and electron-phonon coupling is enhanced leading to spectral red-shift. This review has significant importance in understanding the resonance Raman scattering, structural properties of polyenes, and the physics behind it. The results are also valuable for the development of fine-quality photoelectric device

Yeast Probiotics Shape the Gut Microbiome and Improve the Health of Early-Weaned Piglets

Weaning is one of the most stressful challenges in the pig’s life, which contributes to dysfunctions of intestinal and immune system, disrupts the gut microbial ecosystem, and therefore compromises the growth performance and health of piglets. To mitigate the negative impact of the stress on early-weaned piglets, effective measures are needed to promote gut health. Toward this end, we tamed a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain and developed a probiotic Duan-Nai-An, which is a yeast culture of the tamed S. cerevisiae on egg white. In this study, we tested the performance of Duan-Nai-An on growth and health of early-weaned piglets and analyzed its impact on fecal microbiota. The results showed that Duan-Nai-An significantly improved weight gain and feed intake, and reduced diarrhea and death of early-weaned piglets. Analysis of the gut microbiota showed that the bacterial community was shaped by Duan-Nai-An and maintained as a relatively stable structure, represented by a higher core OTU number and lower unweighted UniFrac distances across the early weaned period. However, fungal community was not significantly shaped by the yeast probiotics. Notably, 13 bacterial genera were found to be associated with Duan-Nai-An feeding, including Enterococcus, Succinivibrio, Ruminococcus, Sharpea, Desulfovibrio, RFN20, Sphaerochaeta, Peptococcus, Anaeroplasma, and four other undefined genera. These findings suggest that Duan-Nai-An has the potential to be used as a feed supplement in swine production

Adjusting CA19-9 values with clinical stage and bilirubin to better predict survival of resectable pancreatic cancer patients: 5-year-follow-up of a single center

BackgroundPancreatic cancer mortality is growing every year, and radical resection is the most essential therapy strategy. It is critical to evaluate the long-term prognosis of individuals receiving radical surgery. CA19-9 is a biomarker for patient recurrence and survival, however obstructive jaundice has a significant impact on this index. Researchers have attempted to modify the index using various modification methods, but the results have been unsatisfactory. In this study, we adjusted CA19-9 values based on clinical stage and bilirubin and found that it provided better prediction than CA19-9 alone in assessing patients.MethodsWe analyzed over 5 years follow-up records of patients who underwent radical pancreatic cancer surgery between August 2009 and May 2017 in a single center. We investigated the association of risk factors with overall survival (OS) as well as disease-free survival (DFS) after surgery. Threshold values for high-risk features associated with poor prognosis in resectable pancreatic cancer were determined. The hazard ratios of the indicators were eventually examined under the stratification of patients’ clinical stages.ResultsA total of 202 patients were involved in the study. The optimum cut-off values for CA19-9 and CA19-9/TB for predicting overall survival were 219.4 (p = 0.0075) and 18.8 (p = 0.0353), respectively. CA19-9>219.4 increased the risk of patient mortality by 1.70 times (95% CI 1.217-2.377, p = 0.002), and tumor poor differentiation raised the risk by 1.66 times (95% CI 1.083-2.553, P = 0.02). Based on clinical stage stratification, we found discrepancies in the predictive efficacy of CA19-9 and CA19-9/TB. CA19-9 was a better predictor in clinical stage 1 (HR = 2.056[CI 95%1.169-3.616], P = 0.012), whereas CA19-9/TB indications were better in stages 2 (HR = 1.650[CI 95%1.023-2.662], P = 0.040) and 3 (HR = 3.989[CI95%1.145-13.896], P = 0.030).ConclusionsCA19-9, CEA, and tumor differentiation are predictors for patients with resectable PDAC. CA19-9 values can be adjusted based on clinical stage and bilirubin levels to better predict overall survival in patients with resectable PDAC. CA19-9>219.4 predicted poor survival in individuals in clinical stage 1, whereas CA19-9/TB>18.8 predicted poor survival for individuals in stages 2 and 3

Letter of Intent: Jinping Neutrino Experiment

Jinping Neutrino Experiment (Jinping) is proposed to significantly improve measurements on solar neutrinos and geoneutrinos in China Jinping Laboratory - a lab with a number of unparalleled features, thickest overburden, lowest reactor neutrino background, etc., which identify it as the world-best low-energy neutrino laboratory. The proposed experiment will have target mass of 4 kilotons of liquid scintillator or water-based liquid scintillator, with a fiducial mass of 2 kilotons for neutrino-electron scattering events and 3 kilotons for inverse-beta interaction events. A number of initial sensitivities studies have been carried out, including on the transition phase for the solar neutrinos oscillation from the vacuum to the matter effect, the discovery of solar neutrinos from the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen (CNO) cycle, the resolution of the high and low metallicity hypotheses, and the unambiguous separation on U and Th cascade decays from the dominant crustal anti-electron neutrinos in China.Comment: Proposal for the Jinping Neutrino Experimen