Clash of the Paladins: India's Hindu-nationalism in decline?

Hindu-nationalism is generally portrayed by most observers as the largest threat to India's democracy

The Higgs mechanism as a cut-off effect

We compute the Coleman-Weinberg potential with a finite cut-off for pure SU(2) and SU(3) five-dimensional gauge theories compactified on an interval. We show that besides the expected Coulomb phase located at and in the vicinity of the free infrared stable or "trivial" fixed point, the theory possesses also a Higgs phase. We compare the results from the potential computation with lattice data from simulations.Comment: 22 pages, 5 figures; introduction improved, conclusions added, published in JHE

B_c meson rare decays in the light-cone quark model

We investigate the rare decays $B_c \rightarrow D_s(1968) \ell \bar{\ell}$ and $B_c\rightarrow D_s^*(2317) \ell \bar{\ell}$ in the framework of the light-cone quark model (LCQM). The transition form factors are calculated in the space-like region and then analytically continued to the time-like region via exponential parametrization. The branching ratios and longitudinal lepton polarization asymmetries (LPAs) for the two decays are given and compared with each other. The results are helpful to investigating the structure of $B_c$ meson and to testing the unitarity of CKM quark mixing matrix. All these results can be tested in the future experiments at the LHC.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figures, version accepted for publication in EPJ

Investigating the effects of an oral fructose challenge on hepatic ATP reserves in healthy volunteers: a 31P MRS study

Background: Impaired homeostasis of hepatic ATP has been associated with NAFLD. An intravenous fructose infusion has been shown to be an effective challenge to monitor the depletion and subsequent recovery of hepatic ATP reserves using 31P MRS. Aims: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of an oral rather than intravenous fructose challenge on hepatic ATP reserves in healthy subjects. Methods: Self-reported healthy males were recruited. Following an overnight fast, baseline liver glycogen and lipid levels were measured using Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS). Immediately after consuming a 500 ml 75 g fructose drink (1275 kJ) subjects were scanned continuously for 90 min to acquire dynamic 31P MRS measurements of liver ATP reserves. Results: A significant effect on ATP reserves was observed across the time course (P < 0.05). Mean ATP levels reached a minimum at 50 min which was markedly lower than baseline (80 ± 17% baseline, P < 0.05). Subsequently, mean values tended to rise but did not reach statistical significance above minimum. The time to minimum ATP levels across subjects was negatively correlated with BMI (R2 ¼ 0.74, P < 0.005). Rates of ATP recovery were not significantly correlated with BMI or liver fat levels, but were negatively correlated with baseline glycogen levels (R2 ¼ 0.7, P < 0.05). Conclusions: Depletion of ATP reserves can be measured non-invasively following an oral fructose challenge using 31P

DeepTetrad: high-throughput image analysis of meiotic tetrads by deep learning in Arabidopsis thaliana

Meiotic crossovers facilitate chromosome segregation and create new combinations of alleles in gametes. Crossover frequency varies along chromosomes and crossover interference limits the coincidence of closely spaced crossovers. Crossovers can be measured by observing the inheritance of linked transgenes expressing different colors of fluorescent protein in Arabidopsis pollen tetrads. Here we establish DeepTetrad, a deep learning-based image recognition package for pollen tetrad analysis that enables high-throughput measurements of crossover frequency and interference in individual plants. DeepTetrad will accelerate the genetic dissection of mechanisms that control meiotic recombination

Horizontal deflection of single particle in a paramagnetic fluid

This paper describes the horizontal deflection behaviour of a single particle in paramagnetic fluids under a high-gradient superconducting magnetic field. A glass box was designed to carry out experiments and test assumptions. It was found that the particles were deflected away from the magnet bore centre and particles with different density and/or susceptibility settled at a certain position on the container floor due to the combined forces of gravity and magneto-Archimedes as well as lateral buoyant (displacement) force. Matlab was chosen to simulate the movement of the particle in the magnetic fluid, the simulation results were in good accordance with experimental data. The results presented here, though, are still very much in their infancy, which could potentially form the basis of a new approach to separating materials based on a combination of density and susceptibility. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.

Search for lepton-flavor violation at HERA

A search for lepton-flavor-violating interactions $e p \to \mu X$ and $e p\to \tau X$ has been performed with the ZEUS detector using the entire HERA I data sample, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 130 pb^{-1}. The data were taken at center-of-mass energies, $\sqrt{s}$, of 300 and 318 GeV. No evidence of lepton-flavor violation was found, and constraints were derived on leptoquarks (LQs) that could mediate such interactions. For LQ masses below $\sqrt{s}$, limits were set on $\lambda_{eq_1} \sqrt{\beta_{\ell q}}$, where $\lambda_{eq_1}$ is the coupling of the LQ to an electron and a first-generation quark $q_1$, and $\beta_{\ell q}$ is the branching ratio of the LQ to the final-state lepton $\ell$ ($\mu$ or $\tau$) and a quark $q$. For LQ masses much larger than $\sqrt{s}$, limits were set on the four-fermion interaction term $\lambda_{e q_\alpha} \lambda_{\ell q_\beta} / M_{\mathrm{LQ}}^2$ for LQs that couple to an electron and a quark $q_\alpha$ and to a lepton $\ell$ and a quark $q_\beta$, where $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are quark generation indices. Some of the limits are also applicable to lepton-flavor-violating processes mediated by squarks in $R$-Parity-violating supersymmetric models. In some cases, especially when a higher-generation quark is involved and for the process $e p\to \tau X$, the ZEUS limits are the most stringent to date.Comment: 37 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by EPJC. References and 1 figure (Fig. 6) adde

Multijet production in neutral current deep inelastic scattering at HERA and determination of alpha_s

Multijet production rates in neutral current deep inelastic scattering have been measured in the range of exchanged boson virtualities 10 < Q2 < 5000 GeV2. The data were taken at the ep collider HERA with centre-of-mass energy sqrt(s) = 318 GeV using the ZEUS detector and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 82.2 pb-1. Jets were identified in the Breit frame using the k_T cluster algorithm in the longitudinally invariant inclusive mode. Measurements of differential dijet and trijet cross sections are presented as functions of jet transverse energy E_{T,B}{jet}, pseudorapidity eta_{LAB}{jet} and Q2 with E_{T,B}{jet} > 5 GeV and -1 < eta_{LAB}{jet} < 2.5. Next-to-leading-order QCD calculations describe the data well. The value of the strong coupling constant alpha_s(M_Z), determined from the ratio of the trijet to dijet cross sections, is alpha_s(M_Z) = 0.1179 pm 0.0013(stat.) {+0.0028}_{-0.0046}(exp.) {+0.0064}_{-0.0046}(th.)Comment: 22 pages, 5 figure

Photoproduction of D∗±D^{*\pm} mesons associated with a leading neutron

The photoproduction of $D^{*\pm} (2010)$ mesons associated with a leading neutron has been observed with the ZEUS detector in $ep$ collisions at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 80 pb$^{-1}$. The neutron carries a large fraction, {$x_L>0.2$}, of the incoming proton beam energy and is detected at very small production angles, {$\theta_n<0.8$ mrad}, an indication of peripheral scattering. The $D^*$ meson is centrally produced with pseudorapidity {$|\eta| 1.9$ GeV}, which is large compared to the average transverse momentum of the neutron of 0.22 GeV. The ratio of neutron-tagged to inclusive $D^*$ production is $8.85\pm 0.93({\rm stat.})^{+0.48}_{-0.61}({\rm syst.})\%$ in the photon-proton center-of-mass energy range {$130 <W<280$ GeV}. The data suggest that the presence of a hard scale enhances the fraction of events with a leading neutron in the final state.Comment: 28 pages, 4 figures, 2 table

Measurement of charm fragmentation ratios and fractions in photoproduction at HERA

The production of D^*+, D^0, D^+, D_s^+ and Lambda_c^+ charm hadrons and their antiparticles in ep scattering at HERA was measured with the ZEUS detector using an integrated luminosity of 79 pb^-1. The measurement has been performed in the photoproduction regime with the exchanged-photon virtuality Q^2 < 1 GeV^2 and for photon-proton centre-of-mass energies in the range 130 < W < 300 GeV. The charm hadrons were reconstructed in the range of transverse momentum p_T(D, Lambda_c) > 3.8 GeV and pseudorapidity |eta(D, Lambda_c)| < 1.6. The production cross sections were used to determine the ratio of neutral and charged D-meson production rates, R_u/d, the strangeness-suppression factor, gamma_s, and the fraction of charged D mesons produced in a vector state, P_v^d. The measured R_u/d and gamma_s values agree with those obtained in deep inelastic scattering and in e^+e^- annihilations. The measured P_v^d value is smaller than, but consistent with, the previous measurements. The fractions of c quarks hadronising as a particular charm hadron, f(c -> D, Lambda_c), were derived in the given kinematic range. The measured open-charm fragmentation fractions are consistent with previous results, although the measured f(c -> D^*+) is smaller and f(c -> Lambda_c^+) is larger than those obtained in e^+e^- annihilations. These results generally support the hypothesis that fragmentation proceeds independently of the hard sub-process.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figures, 6 tables; minor text revision