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Neutrinoless double beta decay is one of the most sensitive probes for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. One of the isotopes under investigation is ${}^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$, which would double beta decay into ${}^{136}\mathrm{Ba}$. Detecting the single ${}^{136}\mathrm{Ba}$daughter provides a sort of ultimate tool in the discrimination against backgrounds. Previous work demonstrated the ability to perform single atom imaging of Ba atoms in a single-vacancy site of a solid xenon matrix. In this paper, the effort to identify signal from individual barium atoms is extended to Ba atoms in a hexa-vacancy site in the matrix and is achieved despite increased photobleaching in this site. Abrupt fluorescence turn-off of a single Ba atom is also observed. Significant recovery of fluorescence signal lost through photobleaching is demonstrated upon annealing of Ba deposits in the Xe ice. Following annealing, it is observed that Ba atoms in the hexa-vacancy site exhibit antibleaching while Ba atoms in the tetra-vacancy site exhibit bleaching. This may be evidence for a matrix site transfer upon laser excitation. Our findings offer a path of continued research toward tagging of Ba daughters in all significant sites in solid xenon. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

Electron-neutrino charged-current interactions with xenon nuclei were modeled in the nEXO neutrinoless double- $\beta$decay detector ( $\sim 5$metric ton, 90% ${}^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$, 10% ${}^{134}\mathrm{Xe}$) to evaluate its sensitivity to supernova neutrinos. Predictions for event rates and detectable signatures were modeled using the Model of Argon Reaction Low Energy Yields (MARLEY) event generator. We find good agreement between MARLEY’s predictions and existing theoretical calculations of the inclusive cross sections at supernova neutrino energies. The interactions modeled by MARLEY were simulated within the nEXO simulation framework and were run through an example reconstruction algorithm to determine the detector’s efficiency for reconstructing these events. The simulated data, incorporating the detector response, were used to study the ability of nEXO to reconstruct the incident electron-neutrino spectrum and these results were extended to a larger xenon detector of the same isotope enrichment. We estimate that nEXO will be able to observe electron-neutrino interactions with xenon from supernovae as far as 5–8 kpc from Earth, while the ability to reconstruct incident electron-neutrino spectrum parameters from observed interactions in nEXO is limited to closer supernovae. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

In literature, Nocardia cholesterolicum NRRL 5767 (NC NRRL5767) is well-known for its ability to transform ~95% of added oleic acid, an abundant agricultural commodity, to value-added product of 10-hydroxystearic acid (10-HSA). A small amount of unwanted 10-ketostearic acid (10-KSA) was also produced. This microbe also transforms ~80% of added linoleic acid to 10-hydroxy-12(Z)-octadecenoic acid (10-OH-12-OD) (an isomer of ricinoleic acid) with minor 10-oxo-12(Z)-octadecenoic acid (10-oxo-12-OD). The conversion of oleic acid to 10-HSA and then to 10-KSA (or linoleic acid to 10-OH-12-OD and then to 10-oxo-12-OD) is catalyzed by oleate hydratase and secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (2o-ADH), respectively. The objective of this project was to knockout the 2o-ADH gene in NC NRRL5767 so that the sole biotransformation product from oleic acid would be 10-HSA. Here, we report construction of CRISPR/Cas9/sgRNA chimeric plasmid that specifically target 5’ coding region of the 2o-ADH gene by Golden Gate Assembly. The construct was confirmed by DNA sequencing and transformed into NC NRRL 5767 via electroporation. The transformants were selected by apramycin resistance and screened for the presence of the target insert (crRNA) by PCR. The ability of the selected transformants to transform oleic acid to 10-HSA was screened by TLC and further confirmed by GC-MS. Our results showed that two of the transformants produced only 10-HSA with no detectable 10-KSA from oleic acid suggesting successful knockout of the 2o-ADH gene. Final confirmation came from the isolation of genomic DNA from these two transformants and the wild type NC NRRL5767 (used as DNA template) and using 17 primers (locate at different positions along the 2o-ADH gene and the 5’ upstream of this gene) for PCR. To our best knowledge, this is the first report to knockout the target gene in Nocardia species by CRISPR-Cas9 technology. 

This Letter reports the first measurement of the oscillation amplitude and frequency of reactor antineutrinos at Daya Bay via neutron capture on hydrogen using 1958 days of data. With over 3.6 million signal candidates, an optimized candidate selection, improved treatment of backgrounds and efficiencies, refined energy calibration, and an energy response model for the capture-on-hydrogen sensitive region, the relative ${\overline{\nu }}_e$rates and energy spectra variation among the near and far detectors gives ${\sin }^{2}2{\theta }_{13}=0.0759_{-0.0049}^{+0.0050}$and $\mathrm{\Delta }{m}_{32}^2=\left(2.72_{-0.15}^{+0.14}\right)\times {10}^{-3}{\mathrm{eV}}^2$assuming the normal neutrino mass ordering, and $\mathrm{\Delta }{m}_{32}^2=(-2.83_{-0.14}^{+0.15})\times {10}^{-3}{\mathrm{eV}}^2$for the inverted neutrino mass ordering. This estimate of ${\sin }^{2}2{\theta }_{13}$is consistent with and essentially independent from the one obtained using the capture-on-gadolinium sample at Daya Bay. The combination of these two results yields ${\sin }^{2}2{\theta }_{13}=0.0833\pm 0.0022$, which represents an 8% relative improvement in precision regarding the Daya Bay full 3158-day capture-on-gadolinium result. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

Abstract We present the results of a search for gravitational-wave transients associated with core-collapse supernova SN 2023ixf, which was observed in the galaxy Messier 101 via optical emission on 2023 May 19, during the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA 15th Engineering Run. We define a five-day on-source window during which an accompanying gravitational-wave signal may have occurred. No gravitational waves have been identified in data when at least two gravitational-wave observatories were operating, which covered ∼14% of this five-day window. We report the search detection efficiency for various possible gravitational-wave emission models. Considering the distance to M101 (6.7 Mpc), we derive constraints on the gravitational-wave emission mechanism of core-collapse supernovae across a broad frequency spectrum, ranging from 50 Hz to 2 kHz, where we assume the gravitational-wave emission occurred when coincident data are available in the on-source window. Considering an ellipsoid model for a rotating proto-neutron star, our search is sensitive to gravitational-wave energy 1 × 10⁻⁴M_⊙c²and luminosity 2.6 × 10⁻⁴M_⊙c²s⁻¹for a source emitting at 82 Hz. These constraints are around an order of magnitude more stringent than those obtained so far with gravitational-wave data. The constraint on the ellipticity of the proto-neutron star that is formed is as low as 1.08, at frequencies above 1200 Hz, surpassing past results. 

Abstract Continuous gravitational waves (CWs) emission from neutron stars carries information about their internal structure and equation of state, and it can provide tests of general relativity. We present a search for CWs from a set of 45 known pulsars in the first part of the fourth LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA observing run, known as O4a. We conducted a targeted search for each pulsar using three independent analysis methods considering single-harmonic and dual-harmonic emission models. We find no evidence of a CW signal in O4a data for both models and set upper limits on the signal amplitude and on the ellipticity, which quantifies the asymmetry in the neutron star mass distribution. For the single-harmonic emission model, 29 targets have the upper limit on the amplitude below the theoretical spin-down limit. The lowest upper limit on the amplitude is 6.4 × 10⁻²⁷for the young energetic pulsar J0537−6910, while the lowest constraint on the ellipticity is 8.8 × 10⁻⁹for the bright nearby millisecond pulsar J0437−4715. Additionally, for a subset of 16 targets, we performed a narrowband search that is more robust regarding the emission model, with no evidence of a signal. We also found no evidence of nonstandard polarizations as predicted by the Brans–Dicke theory.