Energy Calibration of b-Quark Jets with Z->b-bbar Decays at the Tevatron Collider

The energy measurement of jets produced by b-quarks at hadron colliders suffers from biases due to the peculiarities of the hadronization and decay of the originating B hadron. The impact of these effects can be estimated by reconstructing the mass of Z boson decays into pairs of b-quark jets. From a sample of 584 pb-1 of data collected by the CDF experiment in 1.96 TeV proton-antiproton collisions at the Tevatron collider, we show how the Z signal can be identified and measured. Using the reconstructed mass of Z candidates we determine a jet energy scale factor for b-quark jets with a precision better than 2%. This measurement allows a reduction of one of the dominant source of uncertainty in analyses based on high transverse momentum b-quark jets. We also determine, as a cross-check of our analysis, the Z boson cross section in hadronic collisions using the b-bbar final state as sigma x B(Z->b-bbar) = 1578 +636 -410 pb.Comment: 35 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section

Deterministic enhancement of coherent photon generation from a nitrogen-vacancy center in ultrapure diamond

The nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond has an optically addressable, highly coherent spin. However, an NV center even in high quality single-crystalline material is a very poor source of single photons: extraction out of the high-index diamond is inefficient, the emission of coherent photons represents just a few per cent of the total emission, and the decay time is large. In principle, all three problems can be addressed with a resonant microcavity. In practice, it has proved difficult to implement this concept: photonic engineering hinges on nano-fabrication yet it is notoriously difficult to process diamond without degrading the NV centers. We present here a microcavity scheme which uses minimally processed diamond, thereby preserving the high quality of the starting material, and a tunable microcavity platform. We demonstrate a clear change in the lifetime for multiple individual NV centers on tuning both the cavity frequency and anti-node position, a Purcell effect. The overall Purcell factor $F_{\rm P}=2.0$ translates to a Purcell factor for the zero phonon line (ZPL) of $F_{\rm P}^{\rm ZPL}\sim30$ and an increase in the ZPL emission probability from $\sim 3 \%$ to $\sim 46 \%$. By making a step-change in the NV's optical properties in a deterministic way, these results pave the way for much enhanced spin-photon and spin-spin entanglement rates.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Influence of minimum temperature on the thermomechanical fatigue of a directionally-solidified Ni-base superalloy

AbstractIt is well understood that thermomechanical fatigue (TMF) lives are significantly influenced by the maximum temperature of the cycle since increasing temperature accelerates both creep and the coupled fatigue-oxidation effects, usually exponentially with increasing temperature. Hence, most TMF experiments focus on the impact of the maximum temperature of the cycle along with the phasing of the temperature and strain. Very little focus has been placed on the role of the minimum temperature of the TMF cycle. Usually the minimum temperature is chosen for experimental expediency and is not based on minimum temperature experienced in actual components. For example, in a gas turbine, the minimum temperature for an extended shutdown is near room temperature. This paper shows that out-of-phase TMF with lower minimum temperature while maintaining the same mechanical strain results in lower life. Possible explanations for the reduction in life include the increase in inelastic strain range due to the increase in elastic modulus at lower temperatures and microstructural changes that occur at elevated temperature, reducing the lower temperature yield strength. Both experiments and simulations using crystal viscoplasticity modeling show that the increase in elastic modulus with decreasing temperature leads to greater inelastic strain range and a commensurate reduction in fatigue life. This effect is just as important to consider as the influence of microstructure changes occurring at the elevated temperatures of the cycle

Recruitment dynamics of cognitive control in insomnia

Study Objectives Individuals with insomnia disorder (ID) commonly report complaints of cognitive control functioning. Conversely, both behavioral and neurological evidence supporting subjective cognitive control impairments in insomnia remain remarkably scarce and inconclusive. To investigate this discrepancy, the present study used next to behavioral measures, event-related potentials (ERPs) to assess proactive control and reactive control in insomnia. Methods Individuals with insomnia disorder (n = 18) and good sleeper controls (GSC; n = 15) completed the AX-Continuous Performance Task, while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded. This task required participants to maintain specific cue-information active in order to prepare an adequate response to a subsequent probe, which allowed us to measure participants’ reliance on both proactive and reactive control. Results The results indicate that, although ID show a comparable level of performance as GSC, they show a reduced proactive engagement of cue-induced maintenance and response preparation processes (as reflected by the P3b and the contingent negative variation components). Moreover, in contrast to GSC, ID fail to engage reactive control (as indexed by the P3a component) in order to overcome invalid response tendencies. Conclusions This study provides neurological evidence for impairments in cognitive control functioning in insomnia. As such, our study contributes to a better understanding of the discrepancy between the commonly reported cognitive impairments in insomnia and the scarce objective evidence supporting these cognitive complaints

NAGEKEO WOMEN'S CULTURAL STRUGGLE AS A FLORES SUB-CULTURE AGAINST THE FLOW OF CIVILIZATION'S PROGRESS

ABSTRACT HobaPojo is a traditional cloth from the Nagekeo district that is commonly used by Nagekeo women. However, the development of fashion with other motive trends made hobapojo less prestige and began to be abandoned. This qualitative study uses case studies, in-depth interviews with triangulation methods to achieve research credibility. Data was found that the hobapojo cloth was traditionally intended for Nagekeo women. The meaning contained in the cloth covers the entire life cycle to the death of Nagekeo woman. Hobapojo must be used in a variety of traditional events, like clothing, blankets, dance costumes, surrender at the wedding, and cut teeth until the luggage when he died. Hobapojo is also a handicraft product for Nagekeo women to support their lives and to drive the family economy. There are rules in the use of fabrics, and each motif represents the characteristics and thinking skills of the weavers as a form of existence and effort to preserve culture. Keywords; Culture; HobaPojo; Cultural Communication. ABSTRAK HobaPojo adalah kain tradisional dari distrik Nagekeo yang biasa digunakan oleh wanita Nagekeo. Namun, perkembangan mode dengan tren motif lainnya membuat hobapojo kurang gengsi dan mulai ditinggalkan. Penelitian kualitatif ini menggunakan studi kasus, wawancara mendalam dengan metode triangulasi untuk mencapai kredibilitas penelitian. Data ditemukan bahwa kain hobapojo secara tradisional ditujukan untuk wanita Nagekeo. Makna yang terkandung dalam kain mencakup seluruh siklus hidup sampai kematian wanita Nagekeo. Hobapojo harus digunakan dalam berbagai acara tradisional, seperti pakaian, selimut, kostum tari, pasrah di pesta pernikahan, potong gigi sampai koper ketika ia meninggal. Hobapojo juga merupakan produk kerajinan tangan untuk wanita Nagekeo untuk mendukung kehidupan mereka dan untuk mendorong ekonomi keluarga. Ada aturan dalam penggunaan kain, dan masing-masing motif mewakili karakteristik dan keterampilan berpikir para penenun sebagai bentuk keberadaan dan upaya untuk melestarikan budaya. Kata kunci; Budaya; HobaPojo; Komunikasi Budaya

Fermentative lactic acid production from coffee pulp hydrolysate using Bacillus coagulans at laboratory and pilot scales

In this study, the lignocellulosic residue coffee pulp was used as carbon source in fermentative l(+)-lactic acid production using Bacillus coagulans. After thermo-chemical treatment at 121 °C for 30 min in presence of 0.18 mol L−1 H2SO4 and following an enzymatic digestion using Accellerase 1500 carbon-rich hydrolysates were obtained. Two different coffee pulp materials with comparable biomass composition were used, but sugar concentrations in hydrolysates showed variations. The primary sugars were (g L−1) glucose (20–30), xylose (15–25), sucrose (5–11) and arabinose (0.7–10). Fermentations were carried out at laboratory (2 L) and pilot (50 L) scales in presence of 10 g L−1 yeast extract. At pilot scale carbon utilization and lactic acid yield per gram of sugar consumed were 94.65% and 0.78 g g−1, respectively. The productivity was 4.02 g L−1 h−1. Downstream processing resulted in a pure formulation containing 937 g L−1 l(+)-lactic acid with an optical purity of 99.7%

Facile one-pot synthesis of amoxicillin-coated gold nanoparticles and their antimicrobial activity

Nanomaterials have been the object of intense study due to promising applications in a number of different disciplines. In particular, medicine and biology have seen the potential of these novel materials with their nanoscale properties for use in diverse areas such as imaging, sensing and drug vectorisation. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) are considered a very useful platform to create a valid and efficient drug delivery/carrier system due to their facile and well-studied synthesis, easy surface functionalization and biocompatibility. In the present study, stable antibiotic conjugated GNPs were synthesised by a one-step reaction using a poorly water soluble antibiotic, amoxicillin. Amoxicillin, a member of the penicillin family, reduces the chloroauric acid to form nanoparticles and at the same time coats them to afford the functionalised nanomaterial. A range of techniques including UV-vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to ascertain the gold/drug molar ratio and the optimum temperature for synthesis of uniform monodisperse particles in the ca. 30-40 nm size range. Amoxicillin-conjugated gold showed an enhancement of antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli compared to the antibiotic alone

Advanced Fabrication of Single-crystal Diamond Membranes for Quantum Technologies

Many promising applications of single crystal diamond and its color centers as sensor platform and in photonics require free-standing membranes with a thickness ranging from several micrometers to the few 100 nm range. In this work, we present an approach to conveniently fabricate such thin membranes with up to about one millimeter in size. We use commercially available diamond plates (thickness 50 $\mu$m) in an inductively coupled reactive ion etching process which is based on argon, oxygen and SF$_6$. We thus avoid using toxic, corrosive feed gases and add an alternative to previously presented recipes involving chlorine-based etching steps. Our membranes are smooth (RMS roughness <1 nm) and show moderate thickness variation (central part: <1 $\mu$m over $\approx \,$200x200 $\mu$m$^2$). Due to an improved etch mask geometry, our membranes stay reliably attached to the diamond plate in our chlorine-based as well as SF$_6$-based processes. Our results thus open the route towards higher reliability in diamond device fabrication and up-scaling.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, version 2 accepted for publication in MDPI micromachine