A New Species of the Genus Achalinus from Huangshan, Anhui, China(Squamata: Xenodermidae)

A new species of the genus Achalinus is described based on five specimens collected from the villages of Huangjialing and Fuxi, Huangshan, Anhui, China. It can be morphologically differentia ted from all the other species in Achalinus except for A. spinalis and A. werneri by the presence of a dotted black streak in the middle of the subcaudal. It can be distinguished from A. spinalis in that its two anterior temporals are in contact with eye, and A. werneri by its light brown flanks. The phylogenetic rela tionship of Achalinus was reconstructed using the mitochondrial locus of cytochrome coxidase subunit 1(CO1). The five new specimens form a monophyletic clade with strong support. The uncorrected p-dista nces between the new species and other representatives of Achalinus range from 13.6% to 21.7%. The recognition of the new species increases the number of described Achalinus species to 14.

Muon energy reconstruction in the high-energy neutrino observations

The reconstruction of muon energies is crucial for the data analysis of neutrino experiments using large water Cherenkov detectors,but the resolution for muon energy reconstruction using traditional methods is poor.Here,we propose a revised approach to remove noisy optical modules along the track produced by the propagation of muons through water.The number of photons on the optical modules is first corrected by the attenuation properties of light in water.Then the difference in time between the observed optical modules and the expected ones is determined based on the geometry of the triggered optical modules.Finally,the standard of correction is measured by the ratio of photon number before and after correction.Optical modules selection conditions were optimized according to these parameters,with most noisy optical modules successfully removed,improving the resolution of muon energy reconstruction.

Fast qubit initialization in a superconducting circuit

We demonstrate an active reset protocol in a superconducting quantum circuit.The thermal population on the excited state of a transmon qubit is reduced through driving the transitions between the qubit and an ancillary qubit.Furthermore,we investigate the efficiency of this approach at different temperatures.The result shows that population in the first excited state can be dropped from 7%to 2.55%in 27 ns at 30 m K.The efficiency improves as the temperature increases.Compared to other schemes,our proposal alleviates the requirements for measurement procedure and equipment.With the increase of qubit integration,the fast reset technique holds the promise of improving the fidelity of quantum control.

Generating Baikal-GVD high energy cascade-like neutrino events with a GEANT4-based simulation toolkit

Using the GEANT4 and Cosmic Ray Monte Carlo(CRMC)software packages,we developed a new simulation toolkit for astrophysical neutrino telescopes.By configuring the Baikal-GVD detector and comparing the vertex position and direction of incident particles,as well as the channel-by-channel signals,to the events detected by Baikal-GVD,we successfully generated 13 high-energy cascade neutrino events with the toolkit.Our analysis revealed a systematic offset between the reconstructed shower position and the true interaction position,with a distance close to the scale of the shower maximum of−0.54±1.29 m.We achieved a good linear relationship between the photoelectron number of neutrino events obtained by simulation and the real data measured by Baikal-GVD.The simulation toolkit could serve as a reliable basis for studying the performance of astrophysical neutrino telescopes.

COVID-19 vaccine development:milestones,lessons and prospects

With the constantly mutating of SARS-CoV-2 and the emergence of Variants of Concern(VOC),the implementation of vaccination is critically important.Existing SARS-CoV-2 vaccines mainly include inactivated,live attenuated,viral vector,protein subunit,RNA,DNA,and virus-like particle(VLP)vaccines.Viral vector vaccines,protein subunit vaccines,and mRNA vaccines may induce additional cellular or humoral immune regulations,including Th cell responses and germinal center responses,and form relevant memory cells,greatly improving their efficiency.However,some viral vector or mRNA vaccines may be associated with complications like thrombocytopenia and myocarditis,raising concerns about the safety of these COVID-19 vaccines.Here,we systemically assess the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines,including the possible complications and different effects on pregnant women,the elderly,people with immune diseases and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS),transplant recipients,and cancer patients.Based on the current analysis,governments and relevant agencies are recommended to continue to advance the vaccine immunization process.Simultaneously,special attention should be paid to the health status of the vaccines,timely treatment of complications,vaccine development,and ensuring the lives and health of patients.In addition,available measures such as mix-and-match vaccination,developing new vaccines like nanoparticle vaccines,and optimizing immune adjuvant to improve vaccine safety and efficacy could be considered.

NiCoSe2/Ni3Se2 lamella arrays grown on N-doped graphene nanotubes with ultrahigh-rate capability and long-term cycling for asymmetric supercapacitor

In this paper, we report a one-step electrodeposited synthesis strategy for directly growing NiCoSe2/Ni3Se2 lamella arrays(LAs) on N-doped graphene nanotubes(N-GNTs) as advanced free-standing positive electrode for asymmetric supercapacitors. Benefiting from the synergetic contribution between the distinctive electroactive materials and the skeletons, the as-constructed N-GNTs@NiCoSe2/Ni3-Se2LAs present a specific capacitance of ~1308 F g^-1 at a current density of 1 A g^-1. More importantly, the hybrid electrode also reveals excellent rate capability(~1000 F g^-1 even at 100 A g^-1) and appealing cycling performance(~103.2% of capacitance retention over 10,000 cycles). Furthermore, an asymmetric supercapacitor is fabricated by using the obtained N-GNTs@NiCoSe2/Ni3Se2LAs and active carbon(AC) as the positive and negative electrodes respectively,which holds a high energy density of 42.8 W h kg^-1 at 2.6 k W kg^-1, and superior cycling stability of ~94.4% retention over 10,000 cycles. Accordingly, our fabrication technique and new insight herein can both widen design strategy of multicomponent composite electrode materials and promote the practical applications of the latest emerging transition metal selenides in next-generation high-performance supercapacitors.