Bounds on the magnetic moment of the τ-neutrino via the process e~ e-→νγ

Using Breit-Wigner resonance relation, bounds on the magnetic moment of the tau-neutrino are calculated through the reaction e e-→νγ at the neutral boson pole in the framework of a superstring-inspired E6 model which has one extra low-energy neutral gauge boson and a LRSM.     

Sonication effects on non-radical reactions. A sonochemistry beyond the cavitation?

The kinetics of pH-independent hydrolysis of 4-methoxyphenyl dichloroacetate were investigated under ultrasonic irradiation with an application of 10% of the maximum power of the equipment and without sonication in acetonitrile–water binary mixtures with a content of acetonitrile ranging from 0.008 to 35 wt.%. Similar kinetic investigations were performed at intensities corresponding to 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% of the input energy in solvent mixtures containing 10 wt.% and 25 wt.% acetonitrile. In parallel, the responses of KI and terephthalic acid dosimeters at applied irradiation levels were registered under the same experimental conditions. Significant kinetic sonication effects were found at sound intensities presumably not inducing cavitation in the solution. This result provides an experimental evidence of kinetic effects of ultrasound in the absence of cavitation. A disturbing impact of cavitation on the ultrasonic acceleration of the reaction was found. The implications of these findings were discussed.     

Measurements of the center-of-mass energies at BESⅢ via the di-muon process

From 2011 to 2014,the BESIII experiment collected about 5 fb~(-1) data at center-of-mass energies around 4 GeV for the studies of the charmonium-like and higher excited charmonium states.By analyzing the di-muon process e~+e~- → Yisr/fsr μ~+μ~-,the center-of-mass energies of the data samples are measured with a precision of 0.8 MeV.The center-of-mass energy is found to be stable for most of the time during data taking.     

Influence of pH on the phototransformation process of Photogem®

Photogem® is a hematoporphyrin derivative that has been used as a photosensitizer in experimental and clinical Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) in Brazil. Photosensitizers are degraded under illumination. This process, usually called photobleaching, can be monitored by decreasing in fluorescence intensities and includes the following photoprocesses: photodegradation, phototransformation, and photorelocalization. Photobleaching of hematoporphyrin-type sensitizers during illumination in aqueous solution is related not only to photodegradation but is also followed by the formation of photoproducts with a new fluorescence band at around 640–650 nm and with increased light absorption in the red spectral region at 640 nm. In this study, the influence of pH on the phototransformation process was investigated. Photogem® solutions, 40 μg/ml, were irradiated at 514 nm with intensity of 100 mW/cm² for 20 min with different pH environments. The controls were performed with the samples in the absence of light. The Photogem® photodegradation is dependent on the pH. The behavior of photodegradation and photoproducts formation (monitored at 640 nm) is distinct and depends on the photosensitizer concentration. The processes of degradation and photoproducts formation were monitored with Photogemin the concentration of 40 μg/mL since that demonstrated the best visualization of both processes. While below pH 5 the photodegradation occurred, there was no detectable presence of photoproducts. The increase of pH led to increase of photoproducts formation rate with photodegradation reaching the highest value at pH 10. The increase of photoproducts formation and instability of Photogem® from pH 6 to pH 10 are in agreement with the desired properties of an ideal photosensitizer since there are significant differences in pH between normal (7.0 < pH < 8.6) and tumor (5.8 < pH < 7.9) tissues. It is important to know the effect of pH in the process of phototransformation (degradation and photoproduct formation) of the molecule since low pH values promotes increase in the proportion of aggregates species in solution and high pH values promotes increase in the proportion of monomeric species. There must be an ideal pH interval which favors the phototransformation process that is correlated with the singlet oxygen formation responsible by the photodynamic effect. These differences in pH between normal and tumor cells can explain the presence of photosensitizers in target tumor cells, making PDT a selective therapy.     

Bounds on the magnetic moment of the τ-neutrino via the process e+e－→ννγ

Using Breit-Wigner resonance relation, bounds on the magnetic moment of the     

Bounds on the magnetic moment of the τ-neutrino via the process e+e-→v(v)γ

Using Breit-Wigner resonance relation,bounds on the magnetic moment of the tau-neutrino are calculated through the reaction e+e-→v(v)γ at the neutral boson pole in the framework of a superstringinspired E6 model which has one extra low-energy neutral gauge boson and a LRSM.     

Overview of the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix?

The current status of the determination of the elements of the Cabibbo?CKobayashi?CMaskawa quark-mixing matrix is reviewed. Tensions in the global fits are highlighted. Particular attention is paid to the progress in, and prospects for, measurements of CP violation effects.     

Response to “Comment on the transmission matrix for a dielectric interface”

In a work published a few months ago, we have reported a derivation of the transmission matrix that relates the incident and transmitted diffuse Stokes vectors at a plane interface between materials with different refractive indices. Recently, we became aware of a note sent to this journal by Zhai et al., in which they criticize our derivation. On further examination of our work, we found a mistake that affects two equations of our paper. Apparently that mistake was not perceived by Zhai et al. and may have contributed to a misunderstanding of our derivation by these authors. In addition, we concluded that the definitions of the parallel and perpendicular components of the intensity used in our work to express conservation of energy at a material interface must be changed to include a factor that depends on the medium properties. This is in accordance with an observation made by Zhai et al. in their note.     

Why Does the Geometric Product Simplify the Equations of Physics?

In the last decades it was observed that Clifford algebras and geometric product provide a model for different physical phenomena. We propose an explanation of this observation based on the theory of bounded symmetric domains and the algebraic structure associated with them. The invariance of physical laws is a result of symmetry of the physical world that is often expressed by the symmetry of the state space for the system implying that this state space is a symmetric domain. For example, the ball of all possible velocities is a bounded symmetric domain. The symmetry on this ball follow from the symmetry of the space-time transformations between two inertial systems, which fixes the so-called symmetric velocity between them. The Lorenz transformations acts on the ball Sof symmetric velocities by conformal transformations. The ball Sis a spin ball (type IV in Cartan's classification). The Lie algebra of this ball is defined a triple product that is closely related to geometric product. The relativistic dynamic equations in mechanics and for the Lorenz force is described by this Lie algebra and the triple product.     

Is the unitarity of the quark-mixing CKM matrix violated in neutron beta-decay?

We report on a new measurement of neutron beta-decay asymmetry. From the result A(0) = -0.1189(7), we derive the ratio of the axial vector to the vector coupling constant lambda = g(A)/g(V) = -1.2739(19). When included in the world average for the neutron lifetime tau = 885.7(7) s, this gives the first element of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix V(ud). With this value and the Particle Data Group values for V(us) and V(ub), we find a deviation from the unitarity condition for the first row of the CKM matrix of Delta = 0.0083(28), which is 3.0 times the stated error.     

Characterization of nanostructured CuO–porous silicon matrix formed on copper-coated silicon substrate via electrochemical etching

A pulsed anodic etching method has been utilized for nanostructuring of a copper-coated p-type (100) silicon substrate, using HF-based solution as electrolyte. Scanning electron microscopy reveals the formation of a nanostructured matrix that consists of island-like textures with nanosize grains grown onto fiber-like columnar structures separated with etch pits of grooved porous structures. Spatial micro-Raman scattering analysis indicates that the island-like texture is composed of single-phase cupric oxide (CuO) nanocrystals, while the grooved porous structure is barely related to formation of porous silicon (PS). X-ray diffraction shows that both the grown CuO nanostructures and the etched silicon layer have the same preferred (220) orientation. Chemical composition obtained by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis confirms the presence of the single-phase CuO on the surface of the patterned CuO–PS matrix. As compared to PS formed on the bare silicon substrate, the room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) from the CuO–PS matrix exhibits an additional weak ‘blue’ PL band as well as a blue shift in the PL band of PS (S-band). This has been revealed from XPS analysis to be associated with the enhancement in the SiO₂ content as well as formation of the carbonyl group on the surface in the case of the CuO–PS matrix.     

Why is GeV physics relevant in the age of the LHC?

The contribution that Jefferson Lab has made, with its 6 GeV electron beam, and will make, with its 12 GeV upgrade, to our understanding of the way the fundamental interactions work, particularly strong coupling QCD, is outlined. This physics at the GeV scale is essential even in TeV collisions.     

Observation of the matrix effect due to the electron transfer in laser ablation plasma

We investigate the so-called “matrix effect” on the relative intensities of ions in mixed solutions of alkali salts by using femtosecond laser ablation time-of-flight mass spectrometry (fsLA-TOFMS). For the 1:1 mixed solution of sodium and potassium salts, the intensity ratio of cations (Na⁺/K⁺) decreases as the total concentration increases. From the measurement for the mixed solution of lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, and cesium solutions, we find out significant dependence of each ion intensity on the total concentration. The results suggest that the electron transfer from neutral atoms to cations coexistent in the ablation plasma affects the relative ion intensities observed with TOFMS when the total ion concentration is high.     

Is it possible to create a thermal model of warm-up? Monitoring of the training process in athletic decathlon

The aim of the present study was to define if the athletes may vary their warm-up according to the specific demands of event they are preparing for and that higher-level athletes may differ in their thermal responses than lower-level athletes. Ten top level Polish male decathletes (19.9 ± 3.0 yr, 187.9 ± 4.7 cm, 82.7 ± 6.7 kg) who participated in the study were examined with a thermographic camera. Thermal imaging of each athlete was undertaken three times: at rest before the warm-up began, immediately after the general warm-up, and immediately after the specific warm-up.As significant changes in skin surface temperatures were observed between rest and both general and specific warm-ups (p < 0.001) it seems that athletes are able to vary their warm-up according to the decathlon event. Moving from rest to the general warm-up was characterized by decrease of the body surface temperature within the decathletes as a cohort. Interestingly, correlation was found between decathlon result measured by points and decrease of temperatures after commencing the general or specific warm-up exercises (r = 0.62; p < 0.05). However, the higher-performing competitors were characterized by a higher variability of skin temperatures depending on the event being prepared for.The present findings suggest that in sporting competitions characterized by the need for specificity of warm-up of different muscular segments, thermal imaging can be useful observe thermoregulatory responses. Due to these observed individual thermal reactions to the physical effort of warm-up, the present findings suggest it is possible to individually adapt the warm-up to the needs of both the event being prepared for and the level of athlete.     

Can density functional theory make use of experimentally determined ground-state electron densities via the Dirac density matrix for molecules of biological interest?

More than four decades ago, March and Murray gave a perturbation theory of the single-particle(s) Dirac density matrix γs(r,r^′)${\gamma }_s(r,r^{\prime })$ to all orders in a given one-body potential energy V(r)$V(r)$. However, for density functional theory in orbital-free form, one requires the functional γs[ρ]${\gamma }_s[\rho ]$ where ρ(r)$\rho (r)$ is the ground-state electron density. Therefore, in the present study, a first-order non-linear differential equation is proposed for γs${\gamma }_s$ in terms of ρ(r)$\rho (r)$ and ∇ρ(r)$\mathrm{\nabla }\rho (r)$, plus the single-particle kinetic energy. Since this latter quantity is itself known to be a functional of ρ  , the existence of such an equation for γs${\gamma }_s$ would be a significant step along the road to determining the desired functional γs[ρ]${\gamma }_s[\rho ]$. As yet, we have succeeded in giving a rigorous proof of the proposed differential equation for γs(r,r^′)${\gamma }_s(r,r^{\prime })$ only for one- and two-level molecules. If it is subsequently proved for an arbitrary number of levels, which we believe should be possible, it would then allow γs${\gamma }_s$ to be calculated for molecules of biological interest, from experimentally measured ground-state densities ρ(r)$\rho (r)$, as the approach is entirely orbital-free.