Working group report: Collider Physics

This is summary of the activities of the working group on collider physics in the IXth Workshop on High Energy Physics Phenomenology (WHEPP-9) held at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, India in January 2006. Some of the work subsequently done on these problems by the subgroups formed during the workshop is included in this report.     

Quark mass corrections to the perturbative thrust and its effect on the determination of αs

We consider the effects of quark masses to the perturbative thrust in e ⁺ e ⁻ annihilation. In particular we show that perturbative power corrections resulting from non-zero quark masses considerably alters the size of the non-perturbative power corrections and consequently, significantly changes the fitted value of α_s.     

Domino "[3+3]-cyclization-homo-Michael" reactions of 1,3-bissilyl enol ethers with 1,1-diacylcyclopropanes

The Lewis acid mediated domino "[3+3]-cyclization-homo-Michael" reaction of 1,3-bissilyl enol ethers with 1,1-diacylcyclopropanes allows an efficient one-pot synthesis of functionalized salicylates containing a halogenated side chain. A great variety of substitution patterns could be realized by variation of the starting materials and of the Lewis acid. The mechanism of the domino process was studied.     

LP modeling languages for personal computers: A comparison

The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the modeling capabilities of seven algebraic modeling languages (ML) available today, namely, AMPL, GAMS, LINGO, LPL, MPL, PC-PROG and XPRESS-LP. In general, these MLs do an excellent job of providing an interface with which the modeler can specify an algebraically formatted linear program (LP). That is, each ML provides a substantial improvement in time and convenience over the matrix generator/report writers of the last few decades. Further, each of the MLs provides: (1) significant flexibility in model specification, instantiation and modification, (2) effective and efficient conversion from algebraic to solver format, and (3) an understandable and, for the most part, self-documenting model representation. In addition, each of the MLs is constantly being updated and upgraded to provide additional capabilities sought by practitioners and users. However, as shown in the fifteen tables provided in the body of this paper, each ML has its own set of competitive advantages. For example, the most integrated environments (i.e. those integrating the modeling language with a full-screen editor, data import capabilities and a solver) are provided by LINGO and PC-PROG. The most user-friendly interfaces are provided by MPL and PC-PROG, both of which provide window-based interfaces to create models and pop-up windows to display error messages; MPL also uses pull-down menus to specify various operations, whereas PC-PROG uses function keys for operational control. Package costs are led by a current (March, 1991) introductory offer from LINGO. Modeling effectiveness, especially with respect to flexibility in specifying arithmetic statements, is led by GAMS and LPL. Model compactness, as measured by the number of lines required to specify a model, is led by AMPL, LPL, MPL and PC-PROG; LPL, MPL and PC-PROG also provide context sensitive editors which automatically position the cursor where the error was detected. And finally, the most comprehensive user documentation is provided by GAMS, whereas GAMS, LINGO and LPL provide extensive libraries of sample models for those users who learn by example.     

Ionic liquids for the sustainable transformation of levulinic acid to gamma-valerolactone (GVL)

This short review is focused on recent findings on the role of ionic liquids (ILs) in catalysing the hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) to gamma valerolactone (GVL), which is a cascade reaction involving more than one type of reaction. A brief introduction on green aspects of IL as a catalyst followed by various types of ILs being used for hydrogenation of LA to GVL are discussed. The unique characteristics of ILs responsible for hydrogenation reaction are also explained along with the current and upcoming scenario of IL catalysed hydrogenation of LA to GVL.     

Investigation of viscoelastic focusing of particles and cells in a zigzag microchannel

Microfluidic particle focusing has been a vital prerequisite step in sample preparation for downstream particle separation, counting, detection, or analysis, and has attracted broad applications in biomedical and chemical areas. Besides all the active and passive focusing methods in Newtonian fluids, particle focusing in viscoelastic fluids has been attracting increasing interest because of its advantages induced by intrinsic fluid property. However, to achieve a well-defined focusing position, there is a need to extend channel lengths when focusing micrometer-sized or sub-microsized particles, which would result in the size increase of the microfluidic devices. This work investigated the sheathless viscoelastic focusing of particles and cells in a zigzag microfluidic channel. Benefit from the zigzag structure of the channel, the channel length and the footprint of the device can be reduced without sacrificing the focusing performance. In this work, the viscoelastic focusing, including the focusing of 10 μm polystyrene particles, 5 μm polystyrene particles, 5 μm magnetic particles, white blood cells (WBCs), red blood cells (RBCs), and cancer cells, were all demonstrated. Moreover, magnetophoretic separation of magnetic and nonmagnetic particles after viscoelastic pre-focusing was shown. This focusing technique has the potential to be used in a range of biomedical applications.     

Glass transition and crystallization kinetics analysis of Sb–Se–Ge chalcogenide glasses

Differential thermal analysis (DTA) has been employed to investigate the effect of Ge addition on the glass transition behavior and crystallization kinetics of Sb₁₀Se_90?xGe_x (x = 0, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27) alloys. The three characteristic temperatures viz. glass transition (T _g), crystallization (T _c), and melting (T _m) have been determined and found to vary with the heating rates and Ge content. Thermal stability and glass forming tendency have been evaluated in terms of ΔT (= T _c ? T _g) and reduced glass transition temperature. The activation energies for glass transition and crystallization have been used to analyze the nucleation and growth process. The activation energy analysis also determines the suitability of alloys to be used in switching applications. Results have been interpreted in terms of bond energies and structural transformations in the investigated alloys.     

Efficient Continuous-Flow Synthesis and Evaluation of Anticancer Activity of Novel Quinoline–Pyrazoline Derivatives

Russian Journal of Organic Chemistry - An efficient and simple continuous-flow synthetic protocol for novel quinoline-tethered pyrazoline derivatives, which involves condensation of...     

Optimization using spreadsheets on a microcomputer

This paper discusses the advantages of using spreadsheets for problem specification and report generation in optimization projects. It summarizes some of the mathematical programming software which is compatible with popular spreadsheets. A small production planning problem is used to illustrate the steps in input and processing of the results. Two programs are compared in detail.