1,189 research outputs found
B-meson decay constants: a more complete picture from full lattice QCD
We extend the picture of -meson decay constants obtained in lattice QCD
beyond those of the , and to give the first full lattice QCD
results for the , and . We use improved NonRelativistic QCD
for the valence quark and the Highly Improved Staggered Quark (HISQ) action
for the lighter quarks on gluon field configurations that include the effect of
, and quarks in the sea with quark masses going down to
physical values. For the ratio of vector to pseudoscalar decay constants, we
find = 0.941(26), = 0.953(23) (both
less than 1.0) and = 0.988(27). Taking correlated
uncertainties into account we see clear indications that the ratio increases as
the mass of the lighter quark increases. We compare our results to those using
the HISQ formalism for all quarks and find good agreement both on decay
constant values when the heaviest quark is a and on the dependence on the
mass of the heaviest quark in the region of the . Finally, we give an
overview plot of decay constants for gold-plated mesons, the most complete
picture of these hadronic parameters to date.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures. Minor updates to the discussion in several
places and some additional reference
‘I would rather be having my leg cut off than a little needle’: A supplementary qualitative analysis of dentally anxious children’s experiences of needle fear
Fear of needles is common in childhood, with up to 50% being affected to some degree. In individuals who are dentally anxious, the prevalence may be as high as 91%. Fear of needles, and therefore intra-oral injections can have negative impacts on children’s quality of life and healthcare experiences, including a requirement for pharmacological methods to facilitate dental treatment. The aim of this study is to identify whether dentally anxious children report fear of injections and explore how these children experience a fear of needles in a dental setting. A supplementary analysis of interviews collected as part of two previous studies relating to children with dental anxiety. Five main themes were identified: feelings about needles; the nature of needle fear; the context of the fear, its consequences and how children tried to control the process. Children showed a desire to have control of their healthcare interventions, and wanted to trust the healthcare professionals giving the injections. There is evidence that children with dental anxiety also experience fear of needles, including intra-oral injections. Further primary qualitative research is needed to explore this topic in more depth and to design appropriate child centred interventions to reduce needle fear
Dark Production: A Significant Source of Oceanic COS
Carbonyl sulfide (COS) in air and dissolved in seawater was determined during a cruise in August 1999 in the Sargasso Sea in the northwest Atlantic Ocean. Dissolved concentrations at the sea surface displayed only a weak diel cycle with a mean of 8.6 ± 2.8 pmol dm−3 owing to low abundance of photochemical precursors and high temperatures causing rapid hydrolysis. Depth profiles measured over the oceanic mixed layer revealed significant vertical gradients of COS concentration with higher values at the surface, suggesting that the rate of photochemical production at the surface exceeds the rate of vertical mixing. The mean atmospheric mixing ratio was 486 ± 40 ppt, and calculated sea-air fluxes ranged from 0.03 to 0.8 g COS km−2 d−1. COS dark production, estimated from the predawn COS concentration at the surface and the hydrolysis constant, contributed significantly to the total amount of COS produced. A strong temperature dependence of the COS dark production rate q was found by comparing previously published values. The data further indicate an approximately first-order relationship between q and chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) absorbance at 350 nm, a350, which is used as a proxy for the CDOM content of the water but is likely to covary with other parameters, such as biological activity, that could also affect COS dark production. Together with known functions for COS hydrolysis and solubility, the parameterization of dark production as a function of temperature and a350 allows for the prediction of COS concentrations and saturation ratios as a function of physical and optical seawater properties in the absence of photoproduction. This is used to estimate a lower limit of 0.056 Tg COS yr−1 to the annual COS flux from the ocean to the atmosphere
Deciphering extreme rainfall and historical floods at Easkey on the west coast of Ireland
A written account of two flood events in 1844 and 1877 at Easkey in Co. Sligo on the west coast of Ireland is explored with several meteorological datasets and historical newspaper accounts. Gridded daily precipitation fields for Ireland for the late twentieth century are analysed to assess rainfall extremes and most probable month of the annual maximum. Historic rainfall datasets are analysed to corroborate the account of the floods. A lot of rainfall data have survived from the nineteenth century, but there is still an imperfect match between the written account and the old weather records
Cross-talk compensation of hyperfine control in donor qubit architectures
We theoretically investigate cross-talk in hyperfine gate control of
donor-qubit quantum computer architectures, in particular the Kane proposal. By
numerically solving the Poisson and Schr\"{o}dinger equations for the gated
donor system, we calculate the change in hyperfine coupling and thus the error
in spin-rotation for the donor nuclear-electron spin system, as the gate-donor
distance is varied. We thus determine the effect of cross-talk - the
inadvertent effect on non-target neighbouring qubits - which occurs due to
closeness of the control gates (20-30nm). The use of compensation protocols is
investigated, whereby the extent of crosstalk is limited by the application of
compensation bias to a series of gates. In light of these factors the
architectural implications are then considered.Comment: 15 pages, 22 figures, submitted to Nanotechnolog
Electron Exchange Coupling for Single Donor Solid-State Qubits
Inter-valley interference between degenerate conduction band minima has been
shown to lead to oscillations in the exchange energy between neighbouring
phosphorus donor electron states in silicon \cite{Koiller02,Koiller02A}. These
same effects lead to an extreme sensitivity of the exchange energy on the
relative orientation of the donor atoms, an issue of crucial importance in the
construction silicon-based spin quantum computers. In this article we calculate
the donor electron exchange coupling as a function of donor position
incorporating the full Bloch structure of the Kohn-Luttinger electron
wavefunctions. It is found that due to the rapidly oscillating nature of the
terms they produce, the periodic part of the Bloch functions can be safely
ignored in the Heitler-London integrals as was done by Koiller et. al. [Phys.
Rev. Lett. 88,027903(2002),Phys. Rev. B. 66,115201(2002)], significantly
reducing the complexity of calculations.
We address issues of fabrication and calculate the expected exchange coupling
between neighbouring donors that have been implanted into the silicon substrate
using an 15keV ion beam in the so-called 'top down' fabrication scheme for a
Kane solid-state quantum computer. In addition we calculate the exchange
coupling as a function of the voltage bias on control gates used to manipulate
the electron wavefunctions and implement quantum logic operations in the Kane
proposal, and find that these gate biases can be used to both increase and
decrease the magnitude of the exchange coupling between neighbouring donor
electrons. The zero-bias results reconfirm those previously obtained by
Koiller.Comment: 10 Pages, 8 Figures. To appear in Physical Review
Modeling dimethylsulphide production in the upper ocean
Dimethylsulphide (DMS) is produced by upper ocean ecosystems and emitted to the atmosphere, where it may have an important role in climate regulation. Several attempts to quantify the role of DMS in climate change have been undertaken in modeling studies. We examine a model of biogenic DMS production and describe its endogenous dynamics and sensitivities. We extend the model to develop a one-dimensional version that more accurately resolves the important processes of the mixed layer in determining the ecosystem dynamics. Comparisons of the results of the one-dimensional model with an empirical relationship that describes the global distribution of DMS, and also with vertical profiles of DMS in the upper ocean measured at the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series, suggest that the model represents the interaction between the biological and physical processes well on local and global scales. Our analysis of the model confirms its veracity and provides insights into the important processes determining DMS concentration in the oceans
Advanced modelling of the Planck-LFI radiometers
The Low Frequency Instrument (LFI) is a radiometer array covering the 30-70
GHz spectral range on-board the ESA Planck satellite, launched on May 14th,
2009 to observe the cosmic microwave background (CMB) with unprecedented
precision. In this paper we describe the development and validation of a
software model of the LFI pseudo-correlation receivers which enables to
reproduce and predict all the main system parameters of interest as measured at
each of the 44 LFI detectors. These include system total gain, noise
temperature, band-pass response, non-linear response. The LFI Advanced RF Model
(LARFM) has been constructed by using commercial software tools and data of
each radiometer component as measured at single unit level. The LARFM has been
successfully used to reproduce the LFI behavior observed during the LFI
ground-test campaign. The model is an essential element in the database of LFI
data processing center and will be available for any detailed study of
radiometer behaviour during the survey.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, this paper is part of the Prelaunch status LFI
papers published on JINST:
http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/-page=extra.proc5/jins
Industrial work placement in higher education: a study of civil engineering student engagement
For civil engineering undergraduates, the opportunity to spend a period of time in formal industrial work placement provides an invaluable learning experience. This paper reviews student engagement with short-term industrial placement and provides analysis of questionnaires (n=174) returned by undergraduates studying civil engineering at four Higher Education Institutes (HEI’s) in the West of Scotland. The data captures industrial placement statistics, employability skill-sets and presents brief testimonies from students. Whilst the journey to becoming a professional civil engineer is undoubtedly enhanced by short-term placement clear opportunities exist for HEI’s to affect and change existing pedagogical discourse. Commentary is likely to resonate beyond civil engineering and serve as a timely reminder of the need to re-invigorate academia / industry curriculum partnerships
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