Training and Validation of the Fast PCRTM_Solar Model

In this work, we extended PCRTM to including the contribution from solar radiation, including the nonlocal thermal equilibrium (NLTE) effect

Controllable synthesis of biomimetic nano/submicro-fibrous tubes for potential small-diameter vascular grafts

Mimicking the morphological structure of native blood vessels is critical for the development of vascular grafts. Herein, small-diameter composite vascular grafts that integrate the nanofibrous bacterial cellulose (BC) and submicrofibrous cellulose acetate (CA) were fabricated via a combined electrospinning and step-by-step in situ biosynthesis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) observation shows the nano/submicro-fibrous morphology and well-interconnected porous structure of the BC/CA grafts. It is found that the BC/CA graft with a suitable BC content demonstrates lower potential of thrombus formation and enhanced endothelialization as compared to the BC and CA counterparts. Western blotting and RT-qPCR results suggest that the BC/CA-2 graft promotes endothelialization by improving expressions of genes vWF-1 and CD31 and protein CD31. The in vivo tests demonstrate much lower inflammatory response to the BC/CA graft. These results suggest that the BC/CA graft shows a great potential as an artificial graft for rapid formation of an endothelial cell monolayer.National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 51973058, 31870963, 31760265) and Key Research and Development Program of Jiangxi Province (No. 20192ACB80008)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ultrafast High Accuracy PCRTM_SOLAR Model for Cloudy Atmosphere

An ultrafast high accuracy PCRTM_SOLAR model is developed based on PCA compression and principal component-based radiative transfer model (PCRTM). A fast algorithm for simulation of multi-scattering properties of cloud and/or aerosols is integrated into the fast infrared PCRTM. We completed radiance simulation and training for instruments, such as IASI, AIRS, CrIS, NASTI and SHIS, under diverse conditions. The new model is 5 orders faster than 52-stream DISORT with very high accuracy for cloudy sky radiative transfer simulation. It is suitable for hyperspectral remote data assimilation and cloudy sky retrievals

Fine-Tuning the Energy Levels of a Nonfullerene Small-Molecule Acceptor to Achieve a High Short-Circuit Current and a Power Conversion Efficiency over 12% in Organic Solar Cells.

Organic solar cell optimization requires careful balancing of current-voltage output of the materials system. Here, such optimization using ultrafast spectroscopy as a tool to optimize the material bandgap without altering ultrafast photophysics is reported. A new acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A)-type small-molecule acceptor NCBDT is designed by modification of the D and A units of NFBDT. Compared to NFBDT, NCBDT exhibits upshifted highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level mainly due to the additional octyl on the D unit and downshifted lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy level due to the fluorination of A units. NCBDT has a low optical bandgap of 1.45 eV which extends the absorption range toward near-IR region, down to ≈860 nm. However, the 60 meV lowered LUMO level of NCBDT hardly changes the Voc level, and the elevation of the NCBDT HOMO does not have a substantial influence on the photophysics of the materials. Thus, for both NCBDT- and NFBDT-based systems, an unusually slow (≈400 ps) but ultimately efficient charge generation mediated by interfacial charge-pair states is observed, followed by effective charge extraction. As a result, the PBDB-T:NCBDT devices demonstrate an impressive power conversion efficiency over 12%-among the best for solution-processed organic solar cells

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages

Study of the B−→Λc+Λˉc−K−B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

The decay $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. In the $\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-}$ system, the $\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0}$ state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, $\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}$ and $\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}$, whose masses and widths are measured to be $$m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},$$ where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt $\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ sample. Evidence of a new $\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0}$ state is found with a local significance of $3.8\,\sigma$, whose mass and width are measured to be $2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and $12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode $\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.7\,\sigma$. The relative branching fraction of $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ with respect to the $B^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-}$ decay is measured to be $2.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages

Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions R(D∗)\mathcal{R}(D^{*}) and R(D0)\mathcal{R}(D^{0})

The ratios of branching fractions $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})\equiv\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})\equiv\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb${ }^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The tau lepton is identified in the decay mode $\tau^{-}\to\mu^{-}\nu_{\tau}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$. The measured values are $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})=0.281\pm0.018\pm0.024$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})=0.441\pm0.060\pm0.066$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these measurements is $\rho=-0.43$. Results are consistent with the current average of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb public pages

The Process of Internationalisation: Entry Mode Strategy and International Knowledge Acquisition

The increase in international business emphasises the need to study international entry strategies. Many studies have endeavoured to develop this field and provide practical guides, but there are still some questions and gaps that are unresolved. This thesis specifically aims to explore firms’ international entry modes and their knowledge acquisition relative to post-entry R&D activities. Considerable research has been done about entry mode decisions – the first step of operating in foreign markets. However, a more comprehensive discussion about entry mode choices is necessary due to the conflicting empirical results and the factors that have been ignored. The thesis combines the two fields that are examined separately in existing studies through a meta-analysis of the entry mode choices associated with the antecedents and outcomes. Based on 1,499 effect sizes from 230 published empirical studies, the thesis examines fifteen antecedents and two post-entry outcomes that are related to two entry mode choices based on resource-based view (RBV) and transaction cost economics (TCE). The two entry mode choices are affected by different antecedents; they have different mediation effects between the antecedents and the outcomes. The antecedents of entry modes may affect the outcomes differently. The complicated direct and indirect effects require more empirical studies connecting antecedents and outcomes in one model. In addition to the meta-review of entry mode choices, this thesis develops an empirical examination of the R&D investments of multinational enterprises (MNE) after international knowledge acquisition. The analysis focuses on cross-border acquisitions, as they are one of the most important ways to gain knowledge; it explains how the interorganisational knowledge (relative knowledge size and technological overlap) of the acquiring and target firms affects the post-entry R&D intensity. The relationships are examined based on 94 cross-border acquisitions worldwide using the digestibility perspective. The relative knowledge size and the technological overlap both have positive influences on acquirers’ R&D investments. Moreover, the presence of institutional distance has a positive effect on the influence of relative knowledge size but a negative effect on technological overlap influences. The thesis contributes to international entry strategy by generalising current conflict results and clarifying the ignored relationships. Combining the RBV and the TCE, the thesis strengthens the importance of examining antecedents and outcomes in one model, which extends the knowledge about the mediation effects of entry mode choices. Moreover, the analysis of the interorganisational knowledge in cross-border acquisitions complements the current studies by showing how the asymmetric knowledge between partners affects MNE strategic allocations for R&D investments. By using the digestibility perspective to explain the institutional environments, this study deepens the learning about the influences that international environments have on firms’ digestion of acquired knowledge