The Equivalence Principle Revisited

A precise fomulation of the strong Equivalence Principle is essential to the understanding of the relationship between gravitation and quantum mechanics. The relevant aspects are reviewed in a context including General Relativity but allowing for the presence of torsion. For the sake of brevity, a concise statement is proposed for the Principle: An ideal observer immersed in a gravitational field can choose a reference frame in which gravitation goes unnoticed. This statement is given a clear mathematical meaning through an accurate discussion of its terms. It holds for ideal observers (time-like smooth non-intersecting curves), but not for real, spatially extended observers. Analogous results hold for gauge fields. The difference between gravitation and the other fundamental interactions comes from their distinct roles in the equation of force.     

Price forecast in the competitive electricity market by support vector machine

The electricity market has been widely introduced in many countries all over the world and the study on electricity price forecast technology has drawn a lot of attention. In this paper, with different parameter C_i and ε_i assigned to each training data, the flexible C_i Support Vector Regression (SVR) model is developed in terms of the particularity of the price forecast in electricity market. For Day Ahead Market (DAM) price forecast, the load, time of use index and index of day type are taken as the major factors to characterize the market price, therefore, they are selected as the inputs for the flexible SVR forecast model. For the long-term price forecast, we take the reserve margin R^m, HHI and the fuel price index as the inputs, since they are the major factors that drive the market price variation in long run. For short-term price forecast, besides the detailed analysis with the young Italian electricity market, the new model is tested on the experimental stage of the Spanish market, the New York market and the New England market. The long-term forecast with the SVR model presented is justified by the forecast with the data from the Long Run Market Simulator (LREMS).     

A new synthesis of β-damascone

A new synthetic route to β-damascone (7) starting from β-cyclocitral (1) is described. The crucial intermediate 9-oxo-dihydro-β-damascone (3) is prepared in two steps by treatment of (1) with 1-diazo-1-lithioacetone followed by the rhodium (II) acetate conversion of 3-diazo-4-hydroxy-4(2,2,6-trimetylcyclohex-6-enyl) butan-2-one (2) thus formed to (3).     

Chemical behaviour of 1,4-benzoxazine

The attempted synthesis of 2H-1,4-benzoxazine, which is unreported in the literature, gives a mixture of polymeric aldolization products. The major product, isolated in crystalline form, is formulated as the cyclic trimer 5 .     

“For Asia Market Only”: A Green Tattoo Ink between Safety and Regulations

Due to the increasing tattoo practicing in Eastern countries and general concern on tattoo ink composition and safety, the green tattoo inks Green Concentrate by Eternal, for European and “for Asia Market Only” were analyzed, under the premise that only the former falls under a composition regulation. A separation of the additives from the pigment was carried out by successive extraction in solvents of different polarities, i.e., water, acetone and dichloromethane. The solid residues were analyzed by IR and Raman spectroscopies, the liquid fractions by GC/mass spectrometry. The relative pigment load and element traces were also estimated. We found that the European and the Asian inks are based on the same pigment, PG7, restricted in Europe, though at different loads. They have a similar content of harmful impurities, such as Ni, As, Cd and Sb and both contain siloxanes, including harmful D4. Furthermore, they have different physical-chemical properties, the European ink being more hydrophilic, the Asian more hydrophobic. Additionally, the Asian ink contains harmful additives for the solubilization of hydrophobic matrices and by-products of the phthalocyanine synthesis. Teratogenic phthalates are present as well as chlorinated teratogenic and carcinogenic compounds usually associated to the laser treatment for removal purposes, to a larger extent in the European ink. The composition of the inks does not seem to reflect regulatory restrictions, where issued.     

Nodal quasiparticles and the onset of spin-density-wave order in cuprate superconductors

We present a theory for the onset of spin-density-wave order in the superconducting ground state of the cuprates. We compute the scaling dimensions of allowed perturbations of a "relativistic" fixed point with O4 x O(3) symmetry, including those associated with the fermionic nodal Bogoliubov quasiparticles. Analyses of up to six loops show that all perturbations with square lattice symmetry are likely irrelevant. We demonstrate that the fermion spectral functions are primarily damped by the coupling to fluctuations of a composite field with Ising nematic order. A number of other experimental implications are also discussed.     

Synthesis and biological activity of apratoxin derivatives

This review covers the total asymmetric synthesis and biological evaluation of derivatives of the marine natural products known as the apratoxins.