Astrophysical S-factor of the d(p,γ)~3 He process by effective field theory

We summarize the recent effective field theory (EFT) studies of low-energy electroweak reactions of astrophysical interest, relevant to big-bang nucleosynthesis. The zero energy astrophysical S(0) factor for the thermal proton radiative capture by deuteron is calculated with pionless EFT. The astrophysical S(0) factor is accurately determined to be S(0)=0.243 eV·b up to the leading order (LO). At zero energies, magnetic transition M1 gives the dominant contribution. The M1 amplitude is calculated up to the LO. A good, quantitative agreement between theoretical and experimental results is found for all observables. The demonstrations of cutoff independent calculation have also been presented.     

Speedmeter scheme for gravitational-wave detectors based on EPR quantum entanglement

We propose a new implementation of a quantum speed meter QND measurement scheme. It employs two independent optical readouts of the interferometer test masses with different values of the bandwidths and of the optical circulating power, whose outputs have to be combined by an additional beamsplitter. Signals at the two outputs of the beamsplitter are proportional to the position and the velocity of the test masses, respectively. The influence of the position meter-like back action force associated with the position signal can be cancelled using the EPR approach by measuring the amplitude quadrature of the beamsplitter common output.     

Photosensitization of red blood cell hemolysis by lutetium texaphyrin

Lutetium (III) texaphyrin photosensitizes postirradiation or "delayed" photohemolysis (DPH) of human and bovine red blood cells at 730 nm by a Type-2 pathway mediated by singlet molecular oxygen. The DPH rate increases with increasing incubation temperature and with the second power of the incident fluence. The experimental DPH curves are in good agreement with a multi-hit kinetics model based on target theory.     

Generalized heat diffusion equations with variable coefficients and their fractalization from the Black-Scholes equation

In this study, we prove that modified diffusion equations, including the generalized Burgers' equation with variable coefficients, can be derived from the Black-Scholes equation with a time-dependent parameter based on the propagator method known in quantum and statistical physics.The extension for the case of a local fractal derivative is also addressed and analyzed.     

Synergistic effect of tri-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-butyl phosphate (TBP) or tri-<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-octyl phosphine oxide (TOPO) with didodecylphosphoric acid (HDDPA) on extraction of uranium(VI) and thorium(IV) ions

Importance of removal of radioactive elements from wastewater was the motivation behind this work. Synergistic solvent extraction of U(VI) and Th(IV) ions from perchlorate solution using didodecylphosphoric acid (HDDPA) incorporated with tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) or tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) as a synergists have been studied for the first time. The effects of HDDPA concentration, synergist’s concentration, pH values and temperature on the extraction process have been studied. The thermodynamic parameters of the extraction process for these ions were calculated. It was found that the synergistic contribution of TOPO is higher than TBP in the extraction of Th(IV) and U(VI).     

Synthesis of some mono- and bis-spiro-β-lactams of benzylisatin

Some new mono- and bis-spiro-β-lactams of benzylisatin were prepared by Staudinger’s ketene-imine [2+2] cycloaddition reaction. The cycloadducts were characterized by spectral data including ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, IR and mass spectra. The configuration of benzylisatin and one of mono-spiro-β-lactams (5a) was established by X-ray crystal analysis.     

An Information Theory Approach to Aesthetic Assessment of Visual Patterns

The question of beauty has inspired philosophers and scientists for centuries. Today, the study of aesthetics is an active research topic in fields as diverse as computer science, neuroscience, and psychology. Measuring the aesthetic appeal of images is beneficial for many applications. In this paper, we will study the aesthetic assessment of simple visual patterns. The proposed approach suggests that aesthetically appealing patterns are more likely to deliver a higher amount of information over multiple levels in comparison with less aesthetically appealing patterns when the same amount of energy is used. The proposed approach is evaluated using two datasets; the results show that the proposed approach is more accurate in classifying aesthetically appealing patterns compared to some related approaches that use different complexity measures.