Insensitivity of leptogenesis with flavor effects to low energy leptonic CP violation

If the baryon asymmetry of the Universe is produced by leptogenesis, CP violation is required in the lepton sector. In the seesaw extension of the standard model with three hierarchical right-handed neutrinos, we show that the baryon asymmetry is insensitive to the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nagakawa-Sakata phases: thermal leptogenesis can work for any value of the observable phases. This result was well known when there were no flavor effects in leptogenesis; we show that it remains true when flavor effects are included.     

Magnetic force microscopy characterization of heat and current treated Fe40Ni38Mo4B18 amorphous ribbons

The domain structure of a magnetostrictive Fe₄₀Ni₃₈Mo₄B₁₈ amorphous ribbon has been studied using magnetic force microscopy (MFM) at room temperature. First, the evolution of the magnetic domain patterns as a function of the annealing temperature has been investigated. In samples heat treated at 250 and 450 °C for 1 h, a transformation from 90° to 180° domain wall has been clearly observed, while the sample heat treated at 700 °C for 1 h showed a magnetic phase fixed by the crystalline anisotropy. Additionally, the evolution of the magnetic domain structure by applying a DC current was recorded by the MFM technique. For current annealed samples at 1 A for 1, 30 and 60 min, a transformation between different domain patterns has been observed. Finally, in samples treated by the current annealing method under simultaneous stress, an increase of the annealing time gives rise to a different magnetic structure arising from the development of transverse magnetic anisotropy.     

On the impact of large amplitude pairing fluctuations on nuclear spectra

The influence of large amplitude pairing fluctuations is investigated in the framework of beyond mean field symmetry conserving configuration mixing calculations. In the numerical application the finite range density dependent Gogny force is used. We investigate the nucleus ⁵⁴Cr with particle number and angular momentum projected wave functions considering the axial quadrupole deformation and the pairing gap degree of freedom as generator coordinates. We find that the effects of the pairing fluctuations increase with the excitation energy and the angular momentum. The self-consistency in the determination of the basis states plays an important role.     

On the role of the colloidal stability of mesoporous silica nanoparticles as gene delivery vectors

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles have been synthesized and functionalized with four different types of molecules containing amino groups, i.e., with primary amines only, with quaternary amines, with quaternized cyclic amines, or with polyethylenimine (PEI), which is formed by primary, secondary, and tertiary amines. These nanoparticles were then incubated with reporter plasmids and the ability of the resulting complexes to transfect human cells was studied. Only nanoparticles functionalized with PEI were efficient for transfection. The agglomeration behavior and the electrokinetic potential of the nanoparticle–plasmid complexes have been studied, as well as their cell internalization behavior using a fluorescent-labeled plasmid that allows its monitorization by confocal microscopy. The results indicate that the efficiency of PEI-functionalized nanoparticles for transfection resides to some extent in the different characteristics imparted to the nanoparticles regarding agglomeration and surface charge behavior.     

Shedding Light on the Origin of Solid-State Luminescence Enhancement in Butterfly Molecules

Different molecular strategies have been carefully evaluated to produce solid-state luminescence enhancement (SLE) in compounds that show dark states in solution. A set of α-phenylstyrylarene derivatives with a butterfly shape have been designed and synthesised, for the first time, with the aim of improving the solid-state fluorescence emission of their parent styrylarene compounds. Although these butterfly molecules are not fluorescent in solution, one of them (1,2,4,5-tetra(α-phenylstyryl)benzene) exhibits a fluorescence quantum yield as high as 68 % in a drop-cast sample and 31 % in its crystalline form. In contrast, 1,3,5-tris(α-phenylstyryl)benzene and 4,6-bis(α-phenylstyryl)pyrimidine do not show SLE. A range of fluorescence spectroscopy experiments and DFT calculations were carried out to unravel the origin of different photophysical behaviour of these compounds in the solid state. The results indicate that a rational strategy to control the SLE effect in luminogens depends on a delicate balance between molecular properties and inter-/intramolecular interactions in the solid state.     

Thermal analysis of CuMg alloys deformed by equal channel angular pressing

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The thermal behavior of two copper alloys, with 0.2 and 0.5 mass % of Mg, was analyzed after severe plastic deformation processing by Equal Channel...     

Liquid chromatography with ultraviolet absorbance detection for the analysis of tetracycline residues in honey

The separation of tetracyclines (TCs) using reversed-phase liquid chromatography (LC) is proposed. The use of an amide-based stationary phase prevents the interaction of tetracyclines with the residual silanol groups and thus avoids the appearance of tailed peaks. Detection was based on using an UV spectrophotometer and gradient elution with acetonitrile-oxalic acid as mobile phase permitted good separation of all the peaks. Specificity was demonstrated by the retention characteristics, UV spectra and peak purity index. Linearity, precision, recovery and sensitivity were satisfactory. The procedure was applied to the analysis of tetracycline residues (tetracycline, oxytetracycline (OTC), chlortetracycline (CTC), doxycycline (DC), minocycline (MINO) and methacycline (MTC)) in honey of different types. Extraction involved using a mild acidic solvent containing EDTA to release protein-bound or sugar-bound tetracyclines. For the clean-up step, solid phase extraction using phenyl cartridges was applied. Detection limits in the honey using the proposed procedure are between 15 and 30 ng g(-1), depending on the tetracycline.