Mechanical Lamb-shift analogue for the Cooper-pair box

We estimate the correction to the Cooper-pair box energy level splitting due to the quantum motion of a coupled micromechanical gate electrode. While the correction due to zero-point motion is very small, it should be possible to observe thermal motion-induced corrections to the photon-assisted tunneling current.Comment: To appear in Phonons 2001 Proceedings (Physica B

Effects of ultrasonication on the production of hyaluronic acid by lactobacilli

The oral administration of hyaluronic acid has been shown to improve skin health. This study aimed at utilizing ultrasound treatment to enhance the production of hyaluronic acid by lactobacilli. Among the 16 strains of lactobacilli screened, a higher production of hyaluronic acid (P−1 to 0.385 mg ml−1, while an amplitude of 20% yielded a lower increase ranging from 0.227 mg ml−1 to 0.310 mg ml−1. Increasing duration of ultrasonic treatment (from 1 min to 3 min) also significantly (P<0.05) improved the concentration of hyaluronic acid in some strains. Our data demonstrated that a sub-lethal physical treatment, such as ultrasonication, can be applied to increase the membrane permeability of lactobacilli cells and subsequently increase the release of bioactive metabolites

Extreme waves generated by Typhoon Bolaven (201215) in Southern Korean waters

Unusual extreme waves were generated by Typhoon Bolaven (201215) in the Southern Korean Waters\ud (SKW) and gave destructive damages to the breakwaters of Seogwipo Harbor at Jeju Island. The waves were far\ud exceeding the design wave height (Hs50yrs 9.3m) and their duration was 14hours. The duration is a very significant\ud factor as much as the design wave height for breakwater armor stability in terms of cumulative damages. A significant\ud increase in strong typhoon intensity and duration in North West Pacific (NWP) due to global warming has been reported\ud and also in landfall typhoons on Korea/Japan in a recent decade. The frequency of typhoon passed SKW region had an\ud inter-annual and also a decadal variation and decreased in recent years, but several strong typhoons were occurred.\ud Bolaven was affected by high pressure distribution located above the warm eddy region to track toward NNW rather\ud than NE as usual in August. The extreme waves were analyzed with respect to typhoon genesis, evolution of the waves\ud through extensive measured data and model simulation. Numerical models of TC96 for the wind fields and WAM4.5.2\ud for the waves were used after calibration with measured data and correction of Cd in wave growth term. They produced\ud reasonably good results. It was found that the extreme waves were evolved by combination of distant large swell and\ud strong wind seas generated by consistent strong winds from front right quadrant of typhoon track for such a long time.\ud The variation of those waves was relatively small as 1-2m, which might be due to limitation of wave growth for\ud U>30m/s and bottom energy dissipation of long period waves in the region. It is essential to hindcast accurately the\ud extreme waves for design of the breakwaters and also for assessment of coastal flooding and coastal erosion in a\ud warming climate

TEM Study on the Evolution of Ge Nanocrystals in Si Oxide Matrix as a Function of Ge Concentration and the Si Reduction Process

Growth and evolution of germanium (Ge) nanocrystals embedded into a silicon oxide (SiO₂) system have been studied based on the Ge content of co-sputtered Ge-SiO₂ films using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that when the proportion of Ge relative to Ge oxide is 20%, TEM showed that annealing the samples at 800°C for 60 min resulted in the formation of a denuded region between the silicon/silicon oxide (Si/SiO₂) interface and a band of Ge nanocrystals towards the surface of the film. By introducing a 20nm thick thermal oxide barrier on top of the silicon (Si) substrate on which the film is deposited, no denuded region in the bulk of this sample is observed. It is proposed that this barrier is effective in reducing both Ge diffusion into the Si substrate and Si diffusion from the substrate into the film. Si diffusing from the Si substrate reduces the Ge oxide into Ge which can subsequently diffuse into the Si substrate. However, the oxide barrier is able to confine the Ge within the oxide matrix so that the denuded region in the bulk of the film cannot form. However the reduction in diffusion should be more significant for Ge as its diffusion coefficient is lower than Si due to its larger size. It is suggested that the denuded region consists of amorphous Ge diffusing towards the Si/SiO₂ interface. When the Ge content is increased to slightly more than 70%, TEM showed that Ge nanocrysyals formed after annealing at 800°C for only 30 min for samples with and without the oxide barrier. There is no denuded region between the Ge nanocrystals band and the Si/SiO₂ interface for both samples but it was observed that coarsening effects were more prominent in the film deposited on top of the oxide barrier. The reduction effect of Si on Ge oxide should not play a significant role in these samples as the Ge content is high.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Continuity theorems for the M/M/1/nM/M/1/n queueing system

In this paper continuity theorems are established for the number of losses during a busy period of the $M/M/1/n$ queue. We consider an $M/GI/1/n$ queueing system where the service time probability distribution, slightly different in a certain sense from the exponential distribution, is approximated by that exponential distribution. Continuity theorems are obtained in the form of one or two-sided stochastic inequalities. The paper shows how the bounds of these inequalities are changed if further assumptions, associated with specific properties of the service time distribution (precisely described in the paper), are made. Specifically, some parametric families of service time distributions are discussed, and the paper establishes uniform estimates (given for all possible values of the parameter) and local estimates (where the parameter is fixed and takes only the given value). The analysis of the paper is based on the level crossing approach and some characterization properties of the exponential distribution.Comment: Final revision; will be published as i

Electrodynamics of a Clean Vortex Lattice

We report on a microscopic evaluation of electrodynamic response for the vortex lattice state of a model s-wave superconductor. Our calculation accounts self-consistently for both quasiparticle and order parameter response and establishes the collective nature of linear response in the clean limit. We discuss the effects of homogeneous and inhomogeneous pinning on the optical conductivity and the penetration depth, and comment on the relationship between macroscopic and local penetration depths. We find unexpected relationships between pinning arrangements and conductivity due to the strongly non-local response.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Ad hoc influenza vaccination during years of significant antigenic drift in a tropical city with 2 seasonal peaks

We evaluated the acceptability of an additional ad hoc influenza vaccination among the health care professionals following seasons with significant antigenic drift. Self-administered, anonymous surveys were performed by hard copy questionnaires in public hospitals, and by an on-line platform available to all healthcare professionals, from April 1st to May 31st, 2015. A total of 1290 healthcare professionals completed the questionnaires, including doctors, nurses, and allied health professionals working in both the public and private systems. Only 31.8% of participating respondents expressed an intention to receive the additional vaccine, despite that the majority of them agreed or strongly agreed that it would bring benefit to the community (88.9%), save lives (86.7%), reduce medical expenses (76.3%), satisfy public expectation (82.8%), and increase awareness of vaccination (86.1%). However, a significant proportion expressed concern that the vaccine could disturb the normal immunization schedule (45.5%); felt uncertain what to do in the next vaccination round (66.0%); perceived that the summer peak might not occur (48.2%); and believed that the summer peak might not be of the same virus (83.5%). Furthermore, 27.8% of all respondents expected that the additional vaccination could weaken the efficacy of previous vaccinations; 51.3% was concerned about side effects; and 61.3% estimated that there would be a low uptake rate. If the supply of vaccine was limited, higher priority groups were considered to include the elderly aged ≥65 years with chronic medical conditions (89.2%), the elderly living in residential care homes (87.4%), and long-stay residents of institutions for the disabled (80.7%). The strongest factors associated with accepting the additional vaccine included immunization with influenza vaccines in the past 3 years, higher perceived risk of contracting influenza, and higher perceived severity of the disease impact. The acceptability to an additional ad hoc influenza vaccination was low among healthcare professionals. This could have a negative impact on such additional vaccination campaigns since healthcare professionals are a key driver for vaccine acceptance. The discordance in perceived risk and acceptance of vaccination regarding self versus public deserves further evaluation

The transition form factors for semi-leptonic weak decays of J/ψJ/\psi in QCD sum rules

Within the Standard Model, we investigate the semi-leptonic weak decays of $J/\psi$. The various form factors of $J/\psi$ transiting to a single charmed meson ($D^{(*)}_{(d,s)}$) are studied in the framework of the QCD sum rules. These form factors fully determine the rates of the weak semi-leptonic decays of $J/\psi$ and provide valuable information about the non-perturbative QCD effects. Our results indicate that the decay rate of the semi-leptonic weak decay mode $J/\psi \to D^{(*)-}_{s}+e^{+}+\nu_{e}$ is at order of $10^{-10}$.Comment: 28 pages, 6 figures, revised version to be published in Eur.Phys.J.

An estimate of the flavour singlet contributions to the hyperfine splitting in charmonium

We explore the splitting between flavour singlet and non-singlet mesons in charmonium. This has implications for the hyperfine splitting in charmonium