The Lamb-shift experiment in Muonic helium

We propose to measure several transition frequencies between the 2S and the 2P states (Lamb shift) in muonic helium ions (μ ⁴He^?+? and μ ³He^?+?) by means of laser spectroscopy, in order to determine the alpha-particle and helion root-mean-square (rms) charge radius. In addition, the fine and hyperfine structure components will be revealed, and the magnetic moment distribution radius will be determined. The contribution of the finite size effect to the Lamb shift (2S???2P energy difference) in μHe^?+? is as high as 20 %. Therefore a measurement of the transition frequencies with a moderate (for laser spectroscopy) precision of 50 ppm (corresponding to 1/20 of the linewidth) will lead to a determination of the nuclear rms charge radii with a relative accuracy of 3 ×10^???4 (equivalent to 0.0005 fm). The limiting factor for the extraction of the radii from the Lamb shift measurements is given by the uncertainty of the nuclear polarizability contribution. Combined with an ongoing experiment at MPQ aiming to measure the 1S???2S transition frequency in the helium ion, the Lamb shift measurement in μHe^?+? will lead to a sensitive test of problematic and challenging bound-state QED terms. This measurement will also help to clarify the discrepancy found in our previous μ _p experiment. Additionally, a precise knowledge of the absolute nuclear radii of the He isotopes and the hyperfine splitting of μ ³He^?+? provide a relevant test of few-nucleon theories.     

The size of the proton

The root-mean-square (rms) charge radius r _p of the proton has so far been known only with a surprisingly low precision of about 1% from both electron scattering and precision spectroscopy of hydrogen. We have recently determined r _p by means of laser spectroscopy of the Lamb shift in the exotic “muonic hydrogen” atom. Here, the muon, which is the 200 times heavier cousin of the electron, orbits the proton with a 200 times smaller Bohr radius. This enhances the sensitivity to the proton’s finite size tremendously. Our new value r _p?=?0.84184 (67) fm is ten times more precise than the generally accepted CODATA-value, but it differs by 5 standard deviations from it. A lively discussion about possible solutions to the “proton size puzzle” has started. Our measurement, together with precise measurements of the 1S–2S transition in regular hydrogen and deuterium, also yields improved values of the Rydberg constant, R _?∞??=?10,973,731.568160 (16) m^???1.     

Quasi-elastic neutrino-nucleus reactions

The quasi-elastic contribution of the nuclear inclusive electron scattering model developed in [A. Gil, J. Nieves, and E. Oset: Nucl. Phys. A 627 (1997) 543] is extended to the study of electroweak charged current induced nuclear reactions at intermediate energies of interest for future neutrino oscillation experiments. The model accounts for long-range nuclear (RPA) correlations, final state interaction and Coulomb corrections. RPA correlations are shown to play a crucial role in the whole range of neutrino energies, up to 500 MeV, studied in this work. Predictions for inclusive muon capture for different nuclei, and for the reactions ¹²C(ν _μ , μ ₋)X and ¹²C(ν _e, e⁻)X near threshold are also given. Presented by M. Valverde at the Workshop on calculation of double-beta-decay matrix elements (MEDEX’05), Corfu, Greece, September 26–29, 2005.     

Rapid Identification of Bacterial Species by Fluorescence Spectroscopy and Classification Through Principal Components Analysis

This work presents the development of a method for rapid bacterial identification based on the autofluorescence spectrum. It was demonstrated differences in the autofluorescence spectrum in three bacterial species and the subsequent separation, through the Principal Components Analysis (PCA) technique, in groups with high likeness, that could identify the bacteria in less than 10 min. Fluorescence spectra of 60 samples of 3 different bacterial species (Escherichia coli, EC, Enterococcus faecalis, EF and Staphylococcus aureus, SA), previously identified by automated equipment Mini API, were collected in 10 excitation wavelengths from 330 to 510 nm. The PCA technique applied to the fluorescence spectra showed that bacteria species could be identified with sensitivity and specificity higher than 90% according to differences that occur within the spectra with excitation of 410 nm and 430 nm. This work presented a method of bacterial identification of three more frequent and more clinically significant species based on the autofluorescence spectra in the excitation wavelengths of 410 and 430 nm and the classification of the spectra in three groups using PCA. The results demonstrated that the bacterial identification is very efficient with such methodology. The proposed method is rapid, ease to perform and low cost compared to standard methods.     

Fluctuations in the Curie-Weiss version of the random field Ising model

The fluctuations of the order parameter in the Curie-Weiss version of the Ising model with random magnetic field are computed. Away from criticality or at first-order critical points they have a Gaussian distribution with random (i. e.,sample-dependent) mean, thermal fluctuations contributing in same order as the fluctuations of the field; at second- or higher-order critical points, non-Gaussian sample-dependent distributions appear, and the fluctuations of the fields are enhanced, dominating over the thermal ones.     

Beta-amyloid oligomerisation monitored by intrinsic tyrosine fluorescence

Aggregation of the peptide beta-amyloid is known to be associated with Alzheimer's disease. According to recent findings the most neurotoxic aggregates are the oligomers formed in the initial stages of the aggregation process. Here we use beta-amyloid's (Aβ's) intrinsic fluorophore tyrosine to probe the earliest peptide-to-peptide stages of aggregation, a region often merely labelled as a time lag, because negligible changes are observed by the commonly used probe ThT. Using spectrally resolved fluorescence decay time techniques and analysis we demonstrate how the distribution of 3 rotamer conformations of the single tyrosine in Aβ tracks the aggregation across the time lag and beyond according to the initial peptide concentration. At low Aβ concentrations (≤5 μM), negligible aggregation is observed and this is mirrored by little change in the fluorescence decay parameters, providing a useful baseline for comparison. At higher concentrations (≈50 μM), and contrary to what is generally accepted from ThT studies the rate of aggregation can be described by an exponential growth to a plateau in terms of the relative contributions of two of the three rotamers, with a characteristic aggregation time of ≈33 h.     

Modeling the pharmacodynamics of passive membrane permeability

Small molecule permeability through cellular membranes is critical to a better understanding of pharmacodynamics and the drug discovery endeavor. Such permeability may be estimated as a function of the free energy change of barrier crossing by invoking the barrier domain model, which posits that permeation is limited by passage through a single “barrier domain” and assumes diffusivity differences among compounds of similar structure are negligible. Inspired by the work of Rezai and co-workers (JACS 128:14073–14080, 2006), we estimate this free energy change as the difference in implicit solvation free energies in chloroform and water, but extend their model to include solute conformational affects. Using a set of eleven structurally diverse FDA approved compounds and a set of thirteen congeneric molecules, we show that the solvation free energies are dominated by the global minima, which allows solute conformational distributions to be effectively neglected. For the set of tested compounds, the best correlation with experiment is obtained when the implicit chloroform global minimum is used to evaluate the solvation free energy difference.     

Attitude change in arbitrarily large organizations

The alignment of collective goals and individual behavior has been extensively studied by economists under a principal-agent framework. Two main solutions have been presented: explicit incentive contracts and monitoring. These solutions correspond to changes in the objective situation faced by individuals. However, an extensive literature in social psychology provides evidence that behavior is influenced, not only by situational constraints, but also by attitudes. Therefore, an important aspect of organization is to choose the structures and procedures that best contribute to the dissemination of the desired attitudes throughout the organization. This paper studies how the initial configuration of attitudes and the size of the organization affect the optimal organizational structure and the timing of information flows when the objective is to align the members’ attitudes. We identify and characterize three factors that affect the optimal organizational structures and procedures and the degree of alignment of attitudes: (1) clustering effects; (2) member cross-influence effects; and (3) leader cross-influence effects.     

Multiconfiguration Dirac–Fock calculations of Zn K-shell radiative and nonradiative transitions

Zinc K-shell radiative and radiationless transition rates are calculated using the multiconfiguration Dirac–Fock method. Correlation up to the 4p orbital is included in almost all transition rate calculations. Calculated radiative transition rates and transition probabilities are compared with Scofield's Dirac–Hartree–Slater and Dirac–Hartree–Fock calculations, presenting good agreement with the later. Radiative transition intensity ratios involving the strongest lines are compared with theoretical, experimental, and empirical-fit values. Most ratios are in close agreement with the empirical-fit values from NIST's Fundamental Parameters database. Calculated radiationless transition rates and ratios are compared with Chen et al.'s Dirac–Fock values and Safronova et al.'s Dirac–Fock values. The K-LL transition rates are overall lower than Chen et al.'s values, whereas the K-LX and K-XY transition rates are overall higher. Calculated K-LX/K-LL and K-XY/K-LL ratios are relatively close to the experimental values compared. Some calculated intensities relative to K-L are in good agreement with the experimental values, whereas others present worse agreement. The calculated fluorescence yield is higher than all theoretical, experimental, and empirical-fitted values compared, probably because the total radiationless transition rate value calculated in the present work is relatively low.     

The influence of the ring size of thiolactams in the Eschenmoser coupling reaction in presence of DBU. Formation of bicyclic thiazolidinones or thioimines

The different behaviors of pyrrolidin-2-thione and piperidin-2-thione under a modified Eschenmoser sulfur contraction reaction protocol using DBU as base was observed. The pyrrolidin-2-thione 1b follows the expected reaction course, leading to thioimines 5a-d, which can be transformed subsequently into the respective by action of a thiophile, while the piperidin-2-thione leads to the formation of bicyclic thiazolidinones 4b-d in moderate to good yields. The β-enaminocarbonyl compound 11 was hydrogenated to afford the respective five-membered analogue of methylphenidate 12.