Contact Interactions Involving Right-handed Neutrinos and SN1987A

We consider lepton-quark contact interactions in models with right-handed neutrinos, and find that observational data from SN1987A restricts the scale of such interactions to be at least $\Lambda>90$ TeV.Comment: 7 pages, latex, no figures. Minor corrections to match final version to appear in Phys. Rev.

Autonomous repair of polymer networks by stress-induced catalyst activation

development of future ‘smart’ materials and devices. Here we present the development of a novel second generation Grubb's catalyst that can be activated through the application of mechanical force in solution as well as in the solid state. We show thorough kinetic analyses as well as extensive optimization for the improvement of the catalyst's activity and lifetime and have eventually translated the concept to the solid state. It could be successfully proven that mechanical activation initiates the ROMP to linear as well as cross-linked polymers in the solid state and by this we present for the first time the autonomous repair of a material that relies on the mechanochemical activation of catalysts on the molecular level. We are certain that this tailor-made prototypical catalyst-system establishes an important step for the implementation of self-healing materials in an everyday environment and are confident that this novel motif will stimulate future research on this field

Carrier transport in multi-terminal superconductor/two-dimensional electron gas Josephson junctions

The critical current in a superconductor/two-dimensional electron gas junction/superconductor junction is controlled by an injection current. In case of a carrier injection from one contact to the semiconductor through the two-dimensional electron gas region of the junction to an ohmic contact at the opposite side a complete suppression of the supercurrent is obtained. The experimental results are compared to a theoretical model based in the solution of the Gor'kov equations, which takes the finite width of the sample into account

Linking surgical skills to postoperative outcomes: a Delphi study on the robot-assisted radical prostatectomy.

Objective To develop an assessment instrument for the evaluation of surgical videos to elucidate the association between surgical skills and postoperative outcomes after a robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP). Design A Delphi study consisting of two consecutive online surveys and a consensus group meeting. Setting Urology departments of general, teaching and university hospitals in the Netherlands. Participants All Dutch urologists with a specialization in RARP. Results Of 18 invited experts, 12 (67%) participated in the first online survey. In the second round, 9 of the 18 invited experts participated (50%). The Delphi meeting was attended by 5 of the 18 (27%) invited experts. The panel identified seven surgical steps with a possible association to postoperative outcomes. The experts also expected an association between adverse postoperative outcomes and the frequency of camera removals, the number of stitches placed, the amount of bleeding, and the extent of coagulation. These factors were incorporated into an assessment instrument. Conclusions Experts in the field of RARP achieved consensus on 7 surgical steps and 4 aspects of the RARP procedure that may be related to adverse postoperative outcomes. The resulting assessment instrument will be tested in future research to determine its validity