Sensitivity of an image plate system in the XUV (60 eV < E < 900 eV)

Phosphor imaging plates (IPs) have been calibrated and proven useful for quantitative x-ray imaging in the 1 to over 1000 keV energy range. In this paper we report on calibration measurements made at XUV energies in the 60 to 900 eV energy range using beamline 6.3.2 at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. We measured a sensitivity of ~25 plus or minus 15 counts/pJ over the stated energy range which is compatible with the sensitivity of Si photodiodes that are used for time-resolved measurements. Our measurements at 900 eV are consistent with the measurements made by Meadowcroft et al. at ~1 keV.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure

Search for Gravitational Waves Associated with Gamma-Ray Bursts Detected by Fermi and Swift during the LIGO-Virgo Run O3b

We search for gravitational-wave signals associated with gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) detected by the Fermi and Swift satellites during the second half of the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo (2019 November 1 15:00 UTC-2020 March 27 17:00 UTC). We conduct two independent searches: A generic gravitational-wave transients search to analyze 86 GRBs and an analysis to target binary mergers with at least one neutron star as short GRB progenitors for 17 events. We find no significant evidence for gravitational-wave signals associated with any of these GRBs. A weighted binomial test of the combined results finds no evidence for subthreshold gravitational-wave signals associated with this GRB ensemble either. We use several source types and signal morphologies during the searches, resulting in lower bounds on the estimated distance to each GRB. Finally, we constrain the population of low-luminosity short GRBs using results from the first to the third observing runs of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. The resulting population is in accordance with the local binary neutron star merger rate. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society

Narrowband Searches for Continuous and Long-duration Transient Gravitational Waves from Known Pulsars in the LIGO-Virgo Third Observing Run

Isolated neutron stars that are asymmetric with respect to their spin axis are possible sources of detectable continuous gravitational waves. This paper presents a fully coherent search for such signals from eighteen pulsars in data from LIGO and Virgo's third observing run (O3). For known pulsars, efficient and sensitive matched-filter searches can be carried out if one assumes the gravitational radiation is phase-locked to the electromagnetic emission. In the search presented here, we relax this assumption and allow both the frequency and the time derivative of the frequency of the gravitational waves to vary in a small range around those inferred from electromagnetic observations. We find no evidence for continuous gravitational waves, and set upper limits on the strain amplitude for each target. These limits are more constraining for seven of the targets than the spin-down limit defined by ascribing all rotational energy loss to gravitational radiation. In an additional search, we look in O3 data for long-duration (hours-months) transient gravitational waves in the aftermath of pulsar glitches for six targets with a total of nine glitches. We report two marginal outliers from this search, but find no clear evidence for such emission either. The resulting duration-dependent strain upper limits do not surpass indirect energy constraints for any of these targets. © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society

GWTC-2.1: Deep extended catalog of compact binary coalescences observed by LIGO and Virgo during the first half of the third observing run

The second Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog, GWTC-2, reported on 39 compact binary coalescences observed by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors between 1 April 2019 15:00 UTC and 1 October 2019 15:00 UTC. Here, we present GWTC-2.1, which reports on a deeper list of candidate events observed over the same period. We analyze the final version of the strain data over this period with improved calibration and better subtraction of excess noise, which has been publicly released. We employ three matched-filter search pipelines for candidate identification, and estimate the probability of astrophysical origin for each candidate event. While GWTC-2 used a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per year, we include in GWTC-2.1, 1201 candidates that pass a false alarm rate threshold of 2 per day. We calculate the source properties of a subset of 44 high-significance candidates that have a probability of astrophysical origin greater than 0.5. Of these candidates, 36 have been reported in GWTC-2. We also calculate updated source properties for all binary block hole events previously reported in GWTC-1. If the 8 additional high-significance candidates presented here are astrophysical, the mass range of events that are unambiguously identified as binary black holes (both objects \geq 3M_\odot) is increased compared to GWTC-2, with total masses from \sim 14M_\odot for GW190924_021846 to \sim 182M_\odot for GW190426_190642. Source properties calculated using our default prior suggest that the primary components of two new candidate events (GW190403_051519 and GW190426_190642) fall in the mass gap predicted by pair-instability supernova theory. We also expand the population of binaries with significantly asymmetric mass ratios reported in GWTC-2 by an additional two events (the mass ratio is less than 0.65 and 0.44 at 90% probability for GW190403_051519 and GW190917_114630 respectively), and find that 2 of the 8 new events have effective inspiral spins \chi_\mathrm{eff} &gt; 0 (at 90\% credibility), while no binary is consistent with \chi_\mathrm{eff} \lt 0 at the same significance. We provide updated estimates for rates of binary black hole and binary neutron star coalescence in the local Universe

Development of Kombucha Tea with Gac and Mango Fruits: Sensory, Nutritional, Phytochemical, Physicochemical and Antioxidant Evaluation

Kombucha tea is a sweetened black tea beverage that undergoes fermentation with a starter culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). In this study, gac (Momordica cochinchinensis) and mango (Mangifera indica) fruits were primarily chosen for infusion into kombucha due to their health benefits. Thus, thisresearch aims to develop kombucha black tea with gac and mango, evaluate the sensory evaluation of the kombucha tea, and analyse the nutritional composition, physicochemical, phytochemical, and antioxidant activity of the kombucha tea. In this study, kombucha was prepared by fermenting black tea with sugar at different concentrations (70, 80, and 100 g) and SCOBY for 10 days before infusing it with gac and mango fruits. The sensory evaluation was evaluated using a hedonic 9-scale and another while using the standard methods. The result showed that kombucha gac and mango fruit with100 g of sugar (KGM100) represents the highest score on all attributes with a value of colour 7.5±1.55, aroma 6.47±1.74, taste 6.6±1.77, and overall, of 6.6±1.77. The nutrient of KGM 100 was higher than other concentrations with a value content of carbohydrates 6.9% and vitamin C of 2.70 mg/kg. The phytochemical of all samples showed increment during fermentation time and the antioxidant activity is higher in KGM100 (95.88%) while the physicochemical properties showed an increase in acidity and a decrease in colour. These findings show that kombucha black tea with gac and mango may impact health when consume and future investigation is worthy to determine its potential health benefits

Remote sensing of current-wave interactions with SIR-C/X-SAR during SRL-1 and SRL-2 at the Gulf Stream Supersite

The Shuttle Imaging Radar, (SIR)-C/X-SAR, first and second Shuttle Radar Laboratory (SRL) missions, SRL-1 and SRL-2, took place April 9-20 and Sept. 30-Oct. 10, 1994. The authors report on a major, multi organizational series of experiments designed to investigate oceanographic phenomena at the Gulf Stream (GS) Supersite off the east coast of the US during these two missions. The investigations emphasized current-wave and air-sea interactions with extensive ground/sea/air truthing. The authors summarize a number of detailed findings associated with SRL-1 and provide a preliminary description of SRL-2 results