Spectrum and decays of hadronic atoms

We describe the spectra and decays of pi pi and pi K atoms within a non-relativistic effective field theory. The evaluations of the energy shifts and widths are performed at next-to-leading order in isospin symmetry breaking. The prediction for the lifetime of the pi K atom in its ground-state yields tau = (3.7 \pm 0.4) * 10^{-15} sec.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of MESON 2004: 8th International Workshop on Meson Production, Properties and Interaction, Cracow, Poland, 4-8 June 2004. 7 page

K^L_{mu3} decay: A first evidence of Right-Handed Quark Currents ?

The experimental results published by KTeV and the preliminary results from NA48 concerning the slope of the Kpi scalar form factor suggest a significant discrepancy with the prediction of the Callan-Treiman low energy theorem once interpreted within the Standard Model. In this talk, we will show how this discrepancy could be explained as a first evidence of the direct coupling of right-handed quarks to W as suggested by certain type of effective electroweak theories.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Talk given at the 7th International Conference on Hyperons, Charm And Beauty Hadrons (BEACH 2006), 2-8 July 2006, Lancaster, U

Unitarity Constraints on effective interaction in πN\pi N scattering

Positivity constraints are derived on pion-nucleon scattering amplitudes and their even-order derivatives inside the Mandelstam Triangle with the help of dispersion relations. Fairly interesting constraints are obtained on some of the low energy constants, by a combination of the chiral perturbation theory for heavy baryons and existing fitting results from available pion-nucleon phase shifts at intermediate energies.Comment: version to appear in Phys. Lett. B. 6 page

Bell-state preparation for electron spins in a semiconductor double quantum dot

A robust scheme for state preparation and state trapping for the spins of two electrons in a semiconductor double quantum dot is presented. The system is modeled by two spins coupled to two independent bosonic reservoirs. Decoherence effects due to this environment are minimized by application of optimized control fields which make the target state to the ground state of the isolated driven spin system. We show that stable spin entanglement with respect to pure dephasing is possible. Specifically, we demonstrate state trapping in a maximally entangled state (Bell state) in the presence of decoherence.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure

Antithrombin activity in children with chylothorax

Objective: To determine whether increased antithrombin loss is present in children with chylothorax after cardiac surgery. Methods: Plasma and pleural effusion samples of children with chylous and non-chylous pleural effusion were assayed for antithrombin activity. Results: Ten children with chylothorax and five children with non-chylous pleural effusion were investigated. There was statistically significant increase in mean antithrombin activity in chylous samples (32.2 ± 11.4%) compared to non-chylous samples (14.4 ± 13.9%), and significant decrease in plasma of children with chylothorax (44.6 ± 15.4%) compared to children with non-chylous pleural effusion (69.9 ± 22.4%). Seven of 10 children with chylous and none of the children without chylous developed thrombosis (p < 0.007). Conclusions: Increased loss of antithrombin is present in children with chylothorax, potentially predisposing these children to an increased risk of thrombosis. Repeated antithrombin substitution should be considered in critically ill children with chylothora

Advantages and disadvantages of different nasal CPAP systems in newborns

Objective: To compare three different systems of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP): the naso-pharyngeal tube and two-prong systems in newborns, focusing on duration of CPAP, side effects and cost. Design: Randomized clinical study. Patients: Between July 2000 and September 2001 newborns were randomized to three different CPAP systems. Forty infants in two weight groups (>2500g and 1250-2500g; 20 patients in each group) were included. Results: In the group >2500g the median duration of CPAP was 1.1days (range 0.25-14.3days). The median time on a naso-pharyngeal CPAP was 1day (range 0.25-14.3days), on Hudson prongs 1.6days (range 0.5-3.3days) and on the Infant Flow system 0.7days (range 0.3-13.6days; p>0.05 for comparison between groups, Fisher's exact test). With naso-pharyngeal CPAP, 2 patients developed moderate nasal injuries. On Hudson, 2 patients developed moderate and three mild nasal injuries. One patient on the Infant Flow showed mild and one moderate nasal injuries. In the weight group 1250-2500g the median duration of CPAP was 1.1days (range 0.1-7.0days). The median time on the naso-pharyngeal tube was 0.9days (range 0.1-7days), on Hudson prongs 1.1days (range 0.7-6.6days) and on the Infant Flow system 1.3days (range 0.25-5.9days; p>0.05 for comparison between groups, Fisher's exact test). With a naso-pharygeal tube, one infant developed mild and one moderate nasal injuries. On Hudson prongs, two had moderate nasal injuries. On Infant Flow, one newborn showed a severe nasal injury and two mild injuries. None of the patients developed a pneumothorax. Conclusion: The naso-pharyngeal tube is an easy, safe and economical CPAP system usable with every common ventilator. For very low birth weight newborns, a prong system may have advantage

The Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Learning, 3D Simulations, Video Games, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality Technology as Learning Tools in Construction Education

Construction education, like many current educational programs, primarily relies upon teaching methods based on traditional lectures delivered “live” or “face-to-face” by a professor, who may also provide lists of notes about the subject taught. This traditional method, however, can be rather lackluster and unengaging, especially for contemporary students who are used to rapid visual stimulation such as that found on the internet, social media, and in gaming environments. While the construction industry is now adopting advanced virtual reality and augmented reality programs as tools for work, these same technologies have great potential as educational tools that can revolutionize learning methods. This study will analyze current literature about the use of video games in education, computer-based learning methods, and 3D simulations and virtual reality, and augmented reality in education. The objective of this paper is to answer the following questions. First, what is the mean distribution of using computer-assisted learning, 3D Simulations, virtual reality, video games, and augmented reality as educational learning tools have a statistically significant increase in the learning achievement of students? Second, what is the mean distribution of using computer-assisted learning, 3D Simulations, virtual reality, video games, and augmented reality as educational learning tools have a statistically significant increase of student’s attitude towards learning objectives

Comment on evidence for new interference phenomena in the decay D+ -> K- pi+ mu+ nu

The experimental determination of low energy pi K scattering phase shifts would assist in determining scattering lengths as well as low energy constants of chiral perturbation theory for which sum rules have been constructed. The FOCUS collaboration has presented evidence for interference pheomena from their analysis of D_l4 decays based on decay amplitudes suitable for a cascade decay D -> K* -> K pi. We point out that if the well-known full five body kinematics are taken into account, pi K scattering phases may be extracted. We also point out that other distributions considered in the context of K_l4 decays can be applied to charm meson decays to provide constraints on violation of |Delta I|=1/2 rule and T-violation.Comment: 9 pages, plain latex; version with minor changes compared to v1 on lepton masses effects, sign error eliminated, clarifying remarks added, one additional ref.; version to appear in Phys. Lett.

Deuteron radial moments for renormalized chiral potentials

We calculate deuteron positive and negative radial moments involving any bilinear function of the deuteron S and D wave functions for renormalized OPE and TPE chiral potentials. The role played by the strong singularities of the potentials at the origin and the short distance insensitivity of the results when the potentials are fully iterated is emphasized as compared to realistic potentials.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures. Poster presented at 4th International Conference on Quarks and Nuclear Physics (QNP06), Madrid, Spain, 5-10 Jun 200