Z′ mediated flavor changing neutral currents in B meson decays

We study the effects of an extra U(1)′ gauge boson with flavor changing couplings with fermion mass eigenstates on certain B meson decays that are sensitive to such new physics contributions. In particular, we examine to what extent the current data on B_d→φK and B_d→η′K decays may be explained in such models, concentrating on the example in which the flavor changing couplings are left-chiral. We find that within reasonable ranges of parameters, the Z′ contribution can readily account for the anomaly in S_φKS but is not sufficient to explain large branching ratio of B_d→η′K with the same parameter value. S_φKS and S_η′KS are seen to be the dominant observables that constrain the extra weak phase in the model.     

Smoothing estimation of rate function for recurrent event data with informative censoring

This paper proposes kernel estimation of the occurrence rate function for recurrent event data with informative censoring. An informative censoring model is considered with assumptions made on the joint distribution of the recurrent event process and the censoring time without modeling the censoring distribution. Under the validity of the informative censoring model, we also show that an estimator based on the assumption of independent censoring becomes inappropriate and is generally asymptotically biased. To investigate the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimator, the explicit form of its asymptotic mean squared risk and the asymptotic normality are derived. Meanwhile, the empirical consistent smoothing estimator for the variance function of the estimator is suggested. The performance of the estimators are also studied through Monte Carlo simulations. An epidemiological example of intravenous drug user data is used to show the influence of informative censoring in the estimation of the occurrence rate functions for inpatient cares over time.     

Advancing Mathematical Activity: A Practice-Oriented View of Advanced Mathematical Thinking

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the dialogue about the notion of advanced mathematical thinking by offering an alternative characterization for this idea, namely advancing mathematical activity. We use the term advancing (versus advanced) because we emphasize the progression and evolution of students' reasoning in relation to their previous activity. We also use the term activity, rather than thinking. This shift in language reflects our characterization of progression in mathematical thinking as acts of participation in a variety of different socially or culturally situated mathematical practices. For these practices, we emphasize the changing nature of students' mathematical activity and frame the process of progression in terms of multiple layers of horizontal and vertical mathematizing.     

Constituents of Antrodia Cinnamomea

We describe identification of seven components from Antrodia cinnamomea. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectral analysis and comparison with authentic samples. These compounds include two steroids (1, 2) (β-sitosterol and eburicol), two new steroids (3, 4) [methyl-4α-methylergost-8,24(28)-dien-3,7,11-trion-26-oate and methyl-4α-methylergost-8,24(28)-dien-3,11-dion-26-oate], two lignans (5, 6) [(+)-sesamin and 4-hydroxysesamin], and one long chain methyl ester (7) (methyl oleate). Among them, compounds 3 and 4 are first isolated from nature.     

Sulfur adsorption on Fe(1 1 0): a DFT study

The adsorption of atomic S on the Fe(1 1 0) surface is examined using density functional theory (DFT). Three different adsorption sites are considered, including the atop, hollow and bridge sites and the S is adsorbed at a quarter monolayer coverage in a p(2 × 2) arrangement. The hollow site is found to be the most stable, followed by the bridge and atop sites. At all three sites, S adsorption results in relatively minor surface reconstruction, with the most significant being that for the hollow site, with lateral displacements of 0.09 Å. Comparisons between S-adsorbed and pure Fe surfaces revealed reductions in the magnetic moments of surface-layer Fe atoms in the vicinity of the S. At the hollow site, the presence of S causes an increase in the surface Fe d-orbital density of states between 4 and 5 eV. However, S adsorption has no significant effect on the structure and magnetic properties of the lower substrate layers.     

Analysis of Corrugated Long-Period Gratings in Planar Waveguides and Their Polarization Dependence

We present a theoretical analysis of corrugated long-period gratings in planar waveguides. In particular, we calculate the transmission spectra for both the TE and TM polarizations and highlight the polarization-independence conditions.     

Synthesis of 5‐Radioiodoarabinosyl Uridine Analog for Probing the HSV‐1 Thymidine Kinase Gene

Tumor cells transduced with herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene have been intensively applied to the field of positron emission tomography via imaging of its substrate. As a pilot synthesis approach, a facile preparation of 5‐[¹²⁵I] iodoarabinosyl uridine starting from commercially available uridine is reported herein.     

Study of ferromagnetism–superconductivity interactions in Co/Nb multilayers

We investigate Co/Nb multilayers to explore the spontaneous π-phase shift between the superconducting (SC) layers, which is attributed for causing the non-monotonic change of the SC transition temperature (T_c) with the ferromagnetic (FM) layer thickness (t_FM) in several FM/SC multilayered systems. The issue of interfacial roughness is also explored by growing Co/Nb multilayers at various sputtering pressures. Transport measurements show a non-monotonic dependence of T_c on t_FM, and this dependence is insensitive to the structural variation present in the samples, as measured by X-ray scattering.     

Accreting neutron stars as probes of dense matter physics

There are over 100 accreting neutron stars in our galaxy, in which matter (typically H/He) is tidally transferred from a secondary companion to the neutron star. Accretion of this matter perturbs the thermal structure of the interior away from that of an isolated cooling neutron star. In this paper. we review how this accretion induces reactions in the crust of the neutron star that keep the interior hot. If the accretion is intermittent, then the heated surface layers are directly observable when accretion stops. This heating also affects the unstable ignition of light elements in the neutron star envelope. Observations of the neutron star cooling following an accretion outburst can in principle constrain the thermal properties of the crust and core.