Improved measurement of Vub with inclusive semileptonic B decays

We report a new measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa parameter Vub made with a sample of 9.7 x 10(6) BB- events collected with the CLEO II detector. Using heavy quark theory, we combine the observed yield of leptons from semileptonic B decay in the end-point momentum interval 2.2-2.6 GeV/c with recent CLEO II data on B-->X(s)gamma to find Vub = (4.08+/-0.34+/-0.44+/-0.16+/-0.24)x10(-3), where the first two uncertainties are experimental and the last two are from theory.     

Left ventricular 4D echocardiogram motion and shape analysis

The article describes the methodology and the processes of modeling the function and the motion of left ventricle using transesophageal echocardiograph. The parameters can be used in studying the functionality of left ventricle, the status of abnormality of myocardial, and the geometric and morphological of left ventricle in shape analysis. The parameters describes the motion of left ventricle are the left ventricular (LV) floating long axis, the morphological parameters. The LV morphological parameters describe the wall motion, the LV chamber cavity variation, the effective R-ratio of endomyocardial chamber of LV, the area surface curvature, and the global surface curvature circularity. The parameters such as stroke volume, ejection fraction used in evaluation of LV functions are also extracted.     

New form of dynamics and current algebra

We study a new form of dynamical system, in which the commutation relations for the dynamical variables of a quantized field are defined on a “lightlike surface $\text{τ≡}\text{(t+z)}\text{2}\text{=0}$ rather than at one instant of time t = 0. We clarify the physical implications of the use of the new variables x¹ = x, x² = y, $\text{x}{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{=}\text{(t+z)}\text{2}\text{, x}{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{=}\text{(t?z)}\text{2}$ and explore its significance as a new form of relativistic dynamics, which holds in any Lorentz frame but not in the so-called “infinite momentum frame.” Using the quark model, we build up a new algebra of currents, in which the current commutators are defined at equal τ. The sum rules and other results of the usual current algebra can be obtained without taking the unjustifiable limit of infinite momentum. In particular, we obtain the Gell-Mann-Okubo mass formulas in quadratic form for both mesons and baryons without the trouble due to momentum dependence. We derive the reduction formula and find the physical high energy limit (not the Bjorken limit) of an amplitude is determined by the equal τ commutator.     

Energy levels in As from the As(p,d) As reaction

The ⁷⁵As(p, d) ⁷⁴As reaction has been used to identify 23 excited states in ⁷⁴As. The l_n values, or mixture of l_n values, to 19 levels have been determined from DWBA fits. The spectroscopic sum rules show a neutron shell filling which is consistent with other N = 42 isotones.     

Exact robustness studies of the test of independence based on four multivariate criteria and their distribution problems under violations

Summary Exact robustness studies against non-normality have been carried out for test of independence based on the four multivariate criteria: Hotelling's trace,U ^(p) , Pillai's trace,V ^(p) , Wilks' criterion,W ^(p) , and Roy's largest root,L _(p) . The density functions ofU ^(p) ,W ^(p) andL _(p) have been obtained in the canonical correlation case and further the moments ofU ^(p) and m.g.f. ofV ^(p) have been derived. All of the study is based on Pillai's distribution of the characteristic roots under violations. Numerical results for the power function have been tabulated for the two-roots case. Slight non-normality does not affect the independence test seriously.V ⁽²⁾ is found to be most robust against nonnormality. Yu-Sheng Hsu is now with Georgia State University, Atlanta.     

Statistics of strange attractors by generalized cell mapping

It is proposed in this paper to use the generalized cell mapping to locate strange attractors of dynamical systems and to determine their statistical properties. The cell-to-cell mapping method is based upon the idea of replacing the state space continuum by a large collection of state space cells and of expressing the evolution of the dynamical system in terms of a cell-to-cell mapping. This leads to a Markov chain which in turn allows us to compute all the statistical properties as well as the invariant distribution. After a general discussion, the method is applied in this paper to strange attractors of a variety of systems governed either by point mappings or by differential equations. The results indicate that it is a viable, effective and attractive method. Some comments on this method in comparison with the method of direct iteration will also be made.     

Vapor-solid growth of Sn nanowires: growth mechanism and superconductivity

A noncatalytic and template-free vapor transport process has been employed to prepare single-crystalline Sn nanowires with diameters of 10-20 nm. The growth of one-dimensional Sn nanowires follows the mechanism similar to the vapor-solid (V-S) mechanism. Two-dimensional square-shaped nanostructures were also found to form in the region of lower deposition temperatures. The rich morphology may be attributed to the competition in growth rate among different crystallographic planes. Structural characterization with high-resolution transmission electron microscopy showed that the nanowires and nanosquares grew in a preferential direction of [200]. The superconducting transition temperatures for Sn nanowires and Sn nanosquares were about 3.7 K, which was very close to that of bulk beta-Sn. Magnetization measurements showed that the critical magnetic fields for both Sn nanowires and Sn nanosquares increased significantly as compared to that of bulk Sn.     

Biocompatibility of poly(carbonate urethane)s with various degrees of nanophase separation

Nanophase separation has been suggested to influence the biological performance of polyurethane. In a previous work, six different 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI)-based poly(carbonate urethane)s (PCUs) that exhibited various degrees of nanophase separation were synthesized and characterized. In the present work, these PCUs were used as a model system to study the effect of nanometric structures on the biocompatibility of polyurethane. Human blood platelet activation, monocyte activation, protein adsorption, and bacterial adhesion on PCU were investigated in vitro. It was found that human blood platelets as well as monocytes were less activated on the PCU surfaces with a greater degree of nanophase separation in general. This phenomenon was closely associated with the lower ratio of human fibrinogen/albumin competitively adsorbed on these surfaces. Bacterial adhesion was also inhibited in some nanophase-separated PCUs. [diagram in text].