Search for: All records

We explore the properties of interferometric data from high-redshift 21 cm measurements using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). These data contain the redshifted 21 cm signal, contamination from continuum foreground sources, and radiometric noise. The 21 cm signal from the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) is expected to be highly Gaussian, which motivates the use of the power spectrum as an effective statistical tool for extracting astrophysical information. We find that foreground contamination introduces non-Gaussianity into the distribution of measurements and then use this information to separate Gaussian from the non-Gaussian signal. We present improved upper limits on the 21 cm EoR power spectrum from the MWA using a Gaussian component of the data, based on the existing analysis from C. D. Nunhokee et al. 2025. This is extracted as the best-fitting Gaussian to the measured data. Our best 2σ (thermal+sample variance) limit for 268 hr of data improves from (30.2 mK)2 to (23.0 mK)2 at z = 6.5 for the East–West polarization, and from (39.2 mK)2 to (21.7 mK)2 = 470 mK2 in North–South. The best limits at z = 6.8 (z = 7.0) improve to P < (25.9 mK)2 (P < (32.0 mK)2) and k = 0.18h Mpc‑1 (k = 0.21h Mpc‑1). Results are compared with realistic simulations, which indicate that leakage from foreground contamination is a source of the non-Gaussian behavior. 

This paper presents the spherically averaged 21 cm power spectrum derived from Epoch of Reionization (EoR) observations conducted with the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA). The analysis uses EoR0-field data, centered at (R.A. = 0h, decl. = ‑27∘), collected between 2013 and 2023. Building on the improved methodology described in C. M. Trott et al. (2024), we incorporate additional data quality control techniques introduced in C. D. Nunhokee (2020). We report the lowest-power-level limits on the EoR power spectrum at redshifts z = 6.5, z = 6.8, and z = 7.0. These power levels, measured in the east–west polarization, are (30.2)2 mK2 at k = 0.18 h Mpc‑1, (31.2)2 mK2 at k = 0.18 h Mpc‑1, and (39.1)2 mK2 at k = 0.21 h Mpc‑1, respectively. The total integration time amounts to 268 hr. These results represent the deepest upper limits achieved by the MWA to date and provide the first evidence of the heated intergalactic medium at redshifts z = 6.5 to 7.0. 

We recently reported that p28, one of the two turnip crinkle virus (TCV) replication proteins, trans-complemented a defective TCV lacking p28, yet repressed the replication of another TCV replicon encoding wildtype p28 (Zhang et al., 2017). Here we show that p88, the TCV-encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, likewise trans-complemented a p88-defective TCV replicon, but repressed one encoding wild-type p88. Surprisingly, lowering p88 protein levels enhanced trans-complementation, but weakened repression. Repression by p88 was not simply due to protein over-expression, as deletion mutants missing 127 or 224 N-terminal amino acids accumulated to higher levels but were poor repressors. Finally, both trans-complementation and repression by p88 were accompanied by preferential accumulation of subgenomic RNA2, and a novel class of small TCV RNAs. Our results suggest that repression of TCV replication by p88 may manifest a viral mechanism that regulates the ratio of genomic and subgenomic RNAs based on p88 abundance. 

We recently reported that p28, one of the two turnip crinkle virus (TCV) replication proteins, trans-complemented a defective TCV lacking p28, yet repressed the replication of another TCV replicon encoding wildtype p28 (Zhang et al., 2017). Here we show that p88, the TCV-encoded RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, likewise trans-complemented a p88-defective TCV replicon, but repressed one encoding wild-type p88. Surprisingly, lowering p88 protein levels enhanced trans-complementation, but weakened repression. Repression by p88 was not simply due to protein over-expression, as deletion mutants missing 127 or 224 N-terminal amino acids accumulated to higher levels but were poor repressors. Finally, both trans-complementation and repression by p88 were accompanied by preferential accumulation of subgenomic RNA2, and a novel class of small TCV RNAs. Our results suggest that repression of TCV replication by p88 may manifest a viral mechanism that regulates the ratio of genomic and subgenomic RNAs based on p88 abundance. 

How bio-membranes are self-organized to perform their functions remains a pivotal issue in biological and chemical science. Understanding the self-assembly principles of lipid-like molecules hence becomes crucial. Here we report the meso-structural evolution of amphiphilic sphere-rod conjugates (giant lipids), and study the roles of geometric parameters (head-tail ratio and cross-section area) during this course. As a prototype system, giant lipids resemble natural lipidic molecules by capturing their essential features including head-tail configuration, monodispersed molecular weight distribution and minor interpenetration of hydrophobic tails. We demonstrate the self-assembly behavior of two categories of giant lipids (I-shape and T-shape, a total of 8 molecules). A rich variety of meso-structures are constructed in solution state and their molecular packing models are rationally understood. We streamline the driving forces of morphological evolution from both geometric and thermodynamic perspective. Giant lipids recast the phase behavior of both linear and branched lipidic molecules to certain degree, while the abundant self-assembled morphologies reveal distinct physiochemical behaviors when geometric parameters deviate from natural analogues. 

A<sc>bstract</sc> Inclusive and differential cross sections for Higgs boson production in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13.6 TeV are measured using data collected with the CMS detector at the LHC in 2022, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34.7 fb⁻¹. Events with the diphoton final state are selected, and the measured inclusive fiducial cross section is$${\sigma }_{\text{fid}}={74}\pm {11}{\left({\text{stat}}\right)}_{-4}^{+5}\left({\text{syst}}\right)$$fb, in agreement with the standard model prediction of 67.8 ± 3.8 fb. Differential cross sections are measured as functions of several observables: the Higgs boson transverse momentum and rapidity, the number of associated jets, and the transverse momentum of the leading jet in the event. Within the uncertainties, the differential cross sections agree with the standard model predictions.