Neutron skin of 208Pb, nuclear symmetry energy, and the parity radius experiment

A precise determination of the neutron skin thickness of a heavy nucleus sets a basic constraint on the nuclear symmetry energy (the neutron skin thickness is the difference of the neutron and proton rms radii of the nucleus). The parity radius experiment (PREX) may achieve it by electroweak parity-violating electron scattering (PVES) on 208Pb. We investigate PVES in nuclear mean field approach to allow the accurate extraction of the neutron skin thickness of 208Pb from the parity-violating asymmetry probed in the experiment. We demonstrate a high linear correlation between the parity-violating asymmetry and the neutron skin thickness in successful mean field forces as the best means to constrain the neutron skin of 208Pb from PREX, without assumptions on the neutron density shape. Continuation of the experiment with higher precision in the parity-violating asymmetry is motivated since the present method can support it to constrain the density slope of the nuclear symmetry energy to new accuracy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, some changes in text and references, version to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Searching for tetraquarks on the lattice

We address the question whether the lightest scalar mesons sigma and kappa are tetraquarks. We present a search for possible light tetraquark states with J^PC=0^++ and I=0, 1/2, 3/2, 2 in the dynamical and the quenched lattice simulations using tetraquark interpolators. In all the channels, we unavoidably find lowest scattering states pi(k)pi(-k) or K(k)pi(-k) with back-to-back momentum k=0,2*pi/L,.. . However, we find an additional light state in the I=0 and I=1/2 channels, which may be related to the observed resonances sigma and kappa with a strong tetraquark component. In the exotic repulsive channels I=2 and I=3/2, where no resonance is observed, we find no light state in addition to the scattering states.Comment: 3 pages, 1 figure, proceedings of Lepton-Photon 2009, Hambur

A feasibility study of signed consent for the collection of patient identifiable information for a national paediatric clinical audit database

Objectives: To investigate the feasibility of obtaining signed consent for submission of patient identifiable data to a national clinical audit database and to identify factors influencing the consent process and its success. Design: Feasibility study. Setting: Seven paediatric intensive care units in England. Participants: Parents/guardians of patients, or patients aged 12-16 years old, approached consecutively over three months for signed consent for submission of patient identifiable data to the national clinical audit database the Paediatric Intensive Care Audit Network (PICANet). Main outcome measures: The numbers and proportions of admissions for which signed consent was given, refused, or not obtained (form not returned or form partially completed but not signed), by age, sex, level of deprivation, ethnicity (South Asian or not), paediatric index of mortality score, length of hospital stay (days in paediatric intensive care). Results: One unit did not start and one did not fully implement the protocol, so analysis excluded these two units. Consent was obtained for 182 of 422 admissions (43%) (range by unit 9% to 84%). Most (101/182; 55%) consents were taken by staff nurses. One refusal (0.2%) was received. Consent rates were significantly better for children who were more severely ill on admission and for hospital stays of six days or more, and significantly poorer for children aged 10-14 years. Long hospital stays and children aged 10-14 years remained significant in a stepwise regression model of the factors that were significant in the univariate model. Conclusion: Systematically obtaining individual signed consent for sharing patient identifiable information with an externally located clinical audit database is difficult. Obtaining such consent is unlikely to be successful unless additional resources are specifically allocated to training, staff time, and administrative support

Decuplet Baryon Structure from Lattice QCD

The electromagnetic properties of the SU(3)-flavor baryon decuplet are examined within a lattice simulation of quenched QCD. Electric charge radii, magnetic moments, and magnetic radii are extracted from the E0 and M1 form factors. Preliminary results for the E2 and M3 moments are presented giving the first model independent insight to the shape of the quark distribution in the baryon ground state. As in our octet baryon analysis, the lattice results give evidence of spin-dependent forces and mass effects in the electromagnetic properties. The quark charge distribution radii indicate these effects act in opposing directions. Some baryon dependence of the effective quark magnetic moments is seen. However, this dependence in decuplet baryons is more subtle than that for octet baryons. Of particular interest are the lattice predictions for the magnetic moments of $\Omega^-$ and $\Delta^{++}$ for which new recent experimental measurements are available. The lattice prediction of the $\Delta^{++}/p$ ratio appears larger than the experimental ratio, while the lattice prediction for the $\Omega^-/p$ magnetic moment ratio is in good agreement with the experimental ratio.Comment: RevTeX manuscript, 34 pages plus 21 figures (available upon request

Relationship of Body Composition Variables and Performance Outcomes in Male Professional Soccer Players

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Simulating chemistry efficiently on fault-tolerant quantum computers

Quantum computers can in principle simulate quantum physics exponentially faster than their classical counterparts, but some technical hurdles remain. Here we consider methods to make proposed chemical simulation algorithms computationally fast on fault-tolerant quantum computers in the circuit model. Fault tolerance constrains the choice of available gates, so that arbitrary gates required for a simulation algorithm must be constructed from sequences of fundamental operations. We examine techniques for constructing arbitrary gates which perform substantially faster than circuits based on the conventional Solovay-Kitaev algorithm [C.M. Dawson and M.A. Nielsen, \emph{Quantum Inf. Comput.}, \textbf{6}:81, 2006]. For a given approximation error $\epsilon$, arbitrary single-qubit gates can be produced fault-tolerantly and using a limited set of gates in time which is $O(\log \epsilon)$ or $O(\log \log \epsilon)$; with sufficient parallel preparation of ancillas, constant average depth is possible using a method we call programmable ancilla rotations. Moreover, we construct and analyze efficient implementations of first- and second-quantized simulation algorithms using the fault-tolerant arbitrary gates and other techniques, such as implementing various subroutines in constant time. A specific example we analyze is the ground-state energy calculation for Lithium hydride.Comment: 33 pages, 18 figure

Using Rheo-Small-Angle Neutron Scattering to Understand How Functionalised Dipeptides Form Gels

We explore the use of rheo-small-angle neutron scattering as a method to collect structural information from neutron scattering simultaneously with rheology to understand how low-molecular-weight hydrogels form and behave under shear. We examine three different gelling hydrogel systems to assess what structures are formed and how these influence the rheology. Furthermore, we probe what is happening to the network during syneresis and why the gels do not recover after an applied strain. All this information is vital when considering gels for applications such as 3D-printing and injection

Measurement of cardiorespiratory fitness in children from two commonly used field tests after accounting for body fatness and maturity

Body fat and maturation both influence cardiorespiratory fitness, however few studies have taken these variables into account when using field tests to predict children's fitness levels. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between two field tests of cardiorespiratory fitness (20 m Maximal Multistage Shuttle Run [20-MST], 550 m distance run [550-m]) and direct measurement of VO2max after adjustment for body fatness and maturity levels. Fifty-three participants (25 boys, 28 girls, age 10.6 ± 1.2 y, mean ± SD) had their body fat levels estimated using bioelectrical impedance (16.6% ± 6.0% and 20.0% ± 5.8% for boys and girls, respectively). Participants performed in random order, the 20-MST and 550-m run followed by a progressive treadmill test to exhaustion during which gas exchange measures were taken. Pearson correlation coefficient analysis revealed that the participants' performance in the 20-MST and 550-m run were highly correlated to VO2 max obtained during the treadmill test to exhaustion (r = 0.70 and 0.59 for 20-MST and 550-m run, respectively). Adjusting for body fatness and maturity levels in a multivariate regression analysis increased the associations between the field tests and VO2max (r = 0.73 for 20-MST and 0.65 for 550-m). We may conclude that both the 20-MST and the 550-m distance run are valid field tests of cardiorespiratory fitness in New Zealand 8-13 year old children and incorporating body fatness and maturity levels explains an additional 5-7% of the variance. © Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics

A Lattice Study of Quark and Glue Momenta and Angular Momenta in the Nucleon

We report a complete calculation of the quark and glue momenta and angular momenta in the proton. These include the quark contributions from both the connected and disconnected insertions. The quark disconnected insertion loops are computed with $Z_4$ noise, and the signal-to-noise is improved with unbiased subtractions. The glue operator is comprised of gauge-field tensors constructed from the overlap operator. The calculation is carried out on a $16^3 \times 24$ quenched lattice at $\beta = 6.0$ for Wilson fermions with $\kappa=0.154, 0.155$, and $0.1555$ which correspond to pion masses at $650, 538$, and $478$~MeV, respectively. The chirally extrapolated $u$ and $d$ quark momentum/angular momentum fraction is found to be $0.64(5)/0.70(5)$, the strange momentum/angular momentum fraction is $0.024(6)/0.023(7)$, and that of the glue is $0.33(6)/0.28(8)$. The previous study of quark spin on the same lattice revealed that it carries a fraction of $0.25(12)$ of proton spin. The orbital angular momenta of the quarks are then obtained from subtracting the spin from their corresponding angular momentum components. We find that the quark orbital angular momentum constitutes $0.47(13)$ of the proton spin with almost all of it coming from the disconnected insertions.Comment: Renormalization section is expanded to include more details. There are slight changes in the final numbers. A few modification and corrections are made in the rest of the tex