The effect of substrate temperature on cadmium telluride films in high temperature vapor deposition process

Physical vapor high-temperature deposition of CdTe thin films is one of the main methods for preparing high-efficiency CdTe solar cells, but high-temperature deposition also has an impact on the internal structure of the film. The difference in thermal expansion coefficients between the substrate and CdTe leads to the generation of internal stress in the CdTe thin film during the cooling process. In this work, we prepared thin films with different substrate temperatures using a homemade GVD device, and observed by SEM that the crystallization quality of the film gradually improved with the increase of substrate temperature, but accompanied by the shift of XRD peak position. We calculated the internal stress situation of the film by the shift amount, and the possible causes of stress generation were speculated by the results of TEM and SAED to be the combined effects of the different thermal expansion coefficients between the substrate and the film and the stacking fault defects inside the film

Modified nusinersen intrathecal injection method: inclusion of a septal needle-free closed infusion connector

ObjectiveNusinersen, an extremely expensive biologic drug (around 100,000 US$ per dose) that needs to be administered intrathecally, is approved for the treatment of 5q-spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Because of the low muscle tone of the back muscles of pediatric SMA patients, especially type 1 SMA patients, the safe, effective, and fast execution of sheath injection is needed. Therefore, a modified intrathecal injection method was developed accordingly. This paper aims to describe the applicability and safety of this modified method.MethodsThe modified intrathecal injection method (MIIM) mainly includes a septal needle-free closed infusion connector between the lumbar puncture needle and the syringe, besides the procedures of routine lumbar puncture. Its applicability and safety were evaluated through clinical observation.ResultsA total of 92 children with SMA have successfully received nusinersen treatment at our hospital using the modified method since 2019 without obvious adverse events related to the modified injection method. Based on the clinical feedback of operators, the advantages of the modified method include successfully injecting the total dose of nusinersen with constant injection rate and a more stable fixation of the puncture needle, as well as making the operator more relaxed. However, compared with the routine method, the procedure of the modified method has additional steps.ConclusionThe modified intrathecal injection method is an effective and safe method to inject nusinersen when weighing the pros and cons, and it may also be used for administering intrathecal injections of other expensive medicines or for patients with other strict requirements for intrathecal injection

SN 2014J in M82: New Insights On the Spectral Diversity of Type Ia Supernovae

We present extensive spectroscopic observations for one of the closest type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia), SN 2014J discovered in M82, ranging from 10.4 days before to 473.2 days after B-band maximum light. The diffuse interstellar band (DIB) features detected in a high-resolution spectrum allow an estimate of line-of-sight extinction as Av=1.9+/-0.6 mag. Spectroscopically, SN 2014J can be put into the high-velocity (HV) subgroup in Wang's classification with a velocity of Si~II 6355 at maximum light as about 12200 km/s, but has a low velocity gradient (LVG, following Benetti's classification) as 41+/-2 km/s/day, which is inconsistent with the trend that HV SNe Ia generally have larger velocity gradients. We find that the HV SNe Ia with LVGs tend to have relatively stronger Si III (at ~4400 Angstrom) absorptions in early spectra, larger ratios of S II 5468 to S II 5640, and weaker Si II 5972 absorptions compared to their counterparts with similar velocities but high velocity gradients. This shows that the HV+LVG subgroup of SNe Ia may have intrinsically higher photospheric temperature, which indicates that their progenitors may experience more complete burning in the explosions relative to the typical HV SNe Ia.Comment: Accepted by MNRAS, 13 figure

Properties and Asteroseismological analysis of a new ZZ ceti discovered by TMTS

Tsinghua university-Ma Huateng Telescope for Survey (TMTS) aims to discover rapidly evolving transients by monitoring the northern sky. The TMTS catalog is cross-matched with the white dwarf (WD) catalog of Gaia EDR3, and light curves of more than a thousand WD candidates are obtained so far. Among them, the WD TMTS J23450729+5813146 (hereafter J2345) is one interesting common source. Based on the light curves from the TMTS and follow-up photometric observations, periods of 967.113 s, 973.734 s, 881.525 s, 843.458 s, 806.916 s and 678.273 s are identified. In addition, the TESS observations suggest a 3.39 h period but this can be attributed to the rotation of a comoving M dwarf located within 3". The spectroscopic observation indicates that this WD is DA type with Teff = 11778+/-617K,log g = 8.38+/-0.31,mass=0.84+/-0.20Msun and age=0.704+/-0.377 Gyrs. Asteroseismological analysis reveals a global best-fit solution of Teff =12110+/-10K and mass=0.760+/-0.005Msun,consistent with the spectral fitting results, and Oxygen and Carbon abundances in the core center are 0.73 and 0.27, respectively. The distance derived from the intrinsic luminosity given by asteroseismology is 93 parsec, which is in agreement with the distance of 98 parsec from Gaia DR3. Additionally, kinematic study shows that this WD is likely a thick disk star. The mass of its zero-age main-sequence mass is estimated to be 3.08 Msun and has a main-sequence plus cooling age of roughly 900 Myrs.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Comparative Metaproteomic Analysis on Consecutively Rehmannia glutinosa-Monocultured Rhizosphere Soil

National Natural Science Foundation of China [30772729, 30671220, 31070403]; Natural Science Foundation of Fujian province, China [2008J0051]Background: The consecutive monoculture for most of medicinal plants, such as Rehmannia glutinosa, results in a significant reduction in the yield and quality. There is an urgent need to study for the sustainable development of Chinese herbaceous medicine. Methodology/Principal Findings: Comparative metaproteomics of rhizosphere soil was developed and used to analyze the underlying mechanism of the consecutive monoculture problems of R. glutinosa. The 2D-gel patterns of protein spots for the soil samples showed a strong matrix dependency. Among the spots, 103 spots with high resolution and repeatability were randomly selected and successfully identified by MALDI TOF-TOF MS for a rhizosphere soil metaproteomic profile analysis. These proteins originating from plants and microorganisms play important roles in nutrient cycles and energy flow in rhizospheric soil ecosystem. They function in protein, nucleotide and secondary metabolisms, signal transduction and resistance. Comparative metaproteomics analysis revealed 33 differentially expressed protein spots in rhizosphere soil in response to increasing years of monoculture. Among them, plant proteins related to carbon and nitrogen metabolism and stress response, were mostly up-regulated except a down-regulated protein (glutathione S-transferase) involving detoxification. The phenylalanine ammonia-lyase was believed to participate in the phenylpropanoid metabolism as shown with a considerable increase in total phenolic acid content with increasing years of monoculture. Microbial proteins related to protein metabolism and cell wall biosynthesis, were up-regulated except a down-regulated protein (geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate synthase) functioning in diterpenoid synthesis. The results suggest that the consecutive monoculture of R. glutinosa changes the soil microbial ecology due to the exudates accumulation, as a result, the nutrient cycles are affected, leading to the retardation of plant growth and development. Conclusions/Significance: Our results demonstrated the interactions among plant, soil and microflora in the proteomic level are crucial for the productivity and quality of R. glutinosa in consecutive monoculture system

Neutrino Physics with JUNO

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), a 20 kton multi-purposeunderground liquid scintillator detector, was proposed with the determinationof the neutrino mass hierarchy as a primary physics goal. It is also capable ofobserving neutrinos from terrestrial and extra-terrestrial sources, includingsupernova burst neutrinos, diffuse supernova neutrino background, geoneutrinos,atmospheric neutrinos, solar neutrinos, as well as exotic searches such asnucleon decays, dark matter, sterile neutrinos, etc. We present the physicsmotivations and the anticipated performance of the JUNO detector for variousproposed measurements. By detecting reactor antineutrinos from two power plantsat 53-km distance, JUNO will determine the neutrino mass hierarchy at a 3-4sigma significance with six years of running. The measurement of antineutrinospectrum will also lead to the precise determination of three out of the sixoscillation parameters to an accuracy of better than 1\%. Neutrino burst from atypical core-collapse supernova at 10 kpc would lead to ~5000inverse-beta-decay events and ~2000 all-flavor neutrino-proton elasticscattering events in JUNO. Detection of DSNB would provide valuable informationon the cosmic star-formation rate and the average core-collapsed neutrinoenergy spectrum. Geo-neutrinos can be detected in JUNO with a rate of ~400events per year, significantly improving the statistics of existing geoneutrinosamples. The JUNO detector is sensitive to several exotic searches, e.g. protondecay via the $p\to K^++\bar\nu$ decay channel. The JUNO detector will providea unique facility to address many outstanding crucial questions in particle andastrophysics. It holds the great potential for further advancing our quest tounderstanding the fundamental properties of neutrinos, one of the buildingblocks of our Universe