1,318 research outputs found
The CP-violating asymmetry in \eta\to\pi^+ \pi^- e^+e^-
We study the CP-violating asymmetry {\cal A}_{\rm CP}, which arises, in
\eta\to\pi^+\pi^- e^+e^-, from the angular correlation of the e^+ e^- and
\pi^+\pi^- planes due to the interference between the magnetic and electric
decay amplitudes. With the phenomenologically determined magnetic amplitude and
branching ratio as input, the asymmetry, induced by the electric bremsstrahlung
amplitude through the CP-violating decay \eta\to\pi^+\pi^-, and by an
unconventional tensor type operator, has been estimated respectively. The upper
bound of {\cal A}_{\rm CP} from the former is about 10^{-3}, and the asymmetry
from the latter might be up to O(10^{-2}). One can therefore expect that this
CP asymmetry would be an interesting CP-violating observable for the future
precise measurements in the \eta factories.Comment: LaTeX, 6 pages. One reference corrected, and some new references
adde
Ischemic cardiovascular disease in workers occupationally exposed to urban air pollution – A systematic review
Introduction. Cardiovascular disease is the first cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Among several known risk factors, researchers also focus their attention on the chronic exposure to air pollution. There is much evidence that exposure to air pollution, especially to ultrafine particles, can damage the endothelium and can favour cardiovascular diseases in the general population. Occupational exposition could be an additive risk factor for the cardiovascular system. This article presents a scientific review of the linkage between occupational exposure to air pollution and ischemic heart disease. Materials and method. A scientific review was undertaken, followed by PRISMA Statements. Observational studies were selected from several scientific databases, likesuch as Pubmed, Google Scholar, Nioshtic-2 and Reserchgate, searching
for selected key words: police workers, professional drivers, mail carriers, filling station attendants, road cleaners, garage workers, motor vehicles and engine maintenance. All the key words were combined with “Boolean Operators” with the
following words: cardiovascular (or cardiac) disease, cardiovascular function, cardiovascular system, ischemic heart disease, coronary disease, myocardial infarction. During the systematic research, the focus was on retrospective and prospective studies from January 1990 – December 2014.
Results. Both the retrospective and prospective studies showed an increased risk of ischemic heart disease in occupationally occupied people exposed to air pollution. Only one study presented a ly minor risk.
Conclusions. The findings of this systematic review suggest a possible linkage between occupational exposure to urban air pollution, especially to motor exhaust and particulate, and ischemic heart disease
Observation of a One-Dimensional Spin-Orbit Gap in a Quantum Wire
Understanding the flow of spins in magnetic layered structures has enabled an
increase in data storage density in hard drives over the past decade of more
than two orders of magnitude1. Following this remarkable success, the field of
'spintronics' or spin-based electronics is moving beyond effects based on local
spin polarisation and is turning its attention to spin-orbit interaction (SOI)
effects, which hold promise for the production, detection and manipulation of
spin currents, allowing coherent transmission of information within a device.
While SOI-induced spin transport effects have been observed in two- and
three-dimensional samples, these have been subtle and elusive, often detected
only indirectly in electrical transport or else with more sophisticated
techniques. Here we present the first observation of a predicted 'spin-orbit
gap' in a one-dimensional sample, where counter-propagating spins, constituting
a spin current, are accompanied by a clear signal in the easily-measured linear
conductance of the system.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, supplementary informatio
Screening for Latent Tuberculosis Infection among Students of Healthcare Professions and Postgraduates of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Palermo
Introduction and objective: Italy is a country with a low incidence of tuberculosis and in the last fifty years the annual number of TB cases decreased from 12,247 to 4,418, showing a reduction of approximately 64% in the number of cases and 71% in incidence. Despite of this encouraging trend, in the last years the epidemiology of tuberculosis changed and today it is a re-emerging infectious. The aim of this study is to measure the prevalence of positivity to tuberculosis infection (latent TB) in students, without any obvious manifestation of disease, attending degree courses of the health care professions and postgraduate medical courses of the School of Medicine of the University of Palermo, Italy.
Materials and methods: A cross-sectional observational study in students of nursing, midwifery, dentistry degree courses and in resident physicians of postgraduate medical schools was carried out from January 2012 to July 2016.
Mantoux test was performed and all positive cases were tested with Interferon-Gamma Release Assay (IGRA).
Results: Of the 1,351 subjects evaluated, 25 (1.8%) resulted positive to Mantoux test; in 17 students (1.2%) the diagnosis was confirmed with IGRA. Positive cases were significantly more frequent among students attending Postgraduated Medical School Courses (p<0.001) and were older than negative cases (p<0.001).
Conclusion: This study suggests that in our geographic area, latent TB shows a relatively low prevalence among students of medical schools. Despite of this evidence, and considering that several students have been found to be
positive for TB, this infectious disease has to be considered a re-emerging biohazard that requires preventive strategies for the containment of the risk in exposed workers as well as in the general population
Avalanche boron fusion by laser picosecond block ignition with magnetic trapping for clean and economic reactor
After the very long consideration of the ideal energy source by fusion of the
protons of light hydrogen with the boron isotope 11 (boron fusion HB11) the
very first two independent measurements of very high reaction gains by lasers
basically opens a fundamental breakthrough. The non-thermal plasma block
ignition with extremely high power laser pulses above petawatt of picosecond
duration in combination with up to ten kilotesla magnetic fields for trapping
has to be combined to use the measured high gains as proof of an avalanche
reaction for an environmentally clean, low cost and lasting energy source as
potential option against global warming. The unique HB11 avalanche reaction is
are now based on elastic collisions of helium nuclei (alpha particles) limited
only to a reactor for controlled fusion energy during a very short time within
a very small volume.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, Submitted to Proceedings 2nd Symposium High
Power Laser Science and Engineering, 14-18 MARCH 2016, Suzhou/Chin
Esposizione professionale ad agenti inquinanti ambientali: studio osservazionale su un gruppo di edicolanti della citt\ue0 di Palermo.
Impact of spin-orbit coupling on quantum Hall nematic phases
Anisotropic charge transport is observed in a two-dimensional (2D) hole
system in a perpendicular magnetic field at filling factors nu=7/2, nu=11/2,
and nu=13/2 at low temperature. In stark contrast, the transport at nu=9/2 is
isotropic for all temperatures. Isotropic hole transport at nu=7/2 is restored
for sufficiently low 2D densities or an asymmetric confining potential. The
density and symmetry dependences of the observed anisotropies suggest that
strong spin-orbit coupling in the hole system contributes to the unusual
transport behavior.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
An Electronic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer
Double-slit electron interferometers, fabricated in high mobility
two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG), proved to be very powerful tools in
studying coherent wave-like phenomena in mesoscopic systems. However, they
suffer from small fringe visibility due to the many channels in each slit and
poor sensitivity to small currents due to their open geometry. Moreover, the
interferometers do not function in a high magnetic field, namely, in the
quantum Hall effect (QHE) regime, since it destroys the symmetry between left
and right slits. Here, we report on the fabrication and operation of a novel,
single channel, two-path electron interferometer that functions in a high
magnetic field. It is the first electronic analog of the well-known optical
Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer. Based on single edge state and closed
geometry transport in the QHE regime the interferometer is highly sensitive and
exhibits very high visibility (62%). However, the interference pattern decays
precipitously with increasing electron temperature or energy. While we do not
understand the reason for the dephasing we show, via shot noise measurement,
that it is not a decoherence process that results from inelastic scattering
events.Comment: to appear in Natur
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