Signals of Unparticles in Low Energy Parity Violation and NuTeV Experiment

We have studied the possible signals of unparticle in atomic parity violation(APV) along an isotope chain and in the NuTeV experiment. The effects of unparticle physics could be observed in APV, if the uncertainty in relative neutron/proton radius shift $\delta(\Delta\frac{R_N}{R_P})$ is less than a few times $10^{-4}$ by measuring the parity violating electron scattering. The constraints imposed by NuTeV experiment on unparticle physics are discussed in detail. If the NuTeV results are confirmed by future experiments, we suggest that unparticle could account for a part of NuTeV anomaly. There exist certain regions for the unparticle parameters ($\Lambda_{\cal U}$, $d_{\cal U}$, $c_{V{\cal U}}$ and $c_{A{\cal U}}$), where the NuTeV discrepancy could be completely explained by unparticle effects and the strange quark asymmetry, even with or without the contributions from the isoscalarity violation etc. It is remarkable that these parameter regions are consistent with the constraints from $b\to s\gamma$Comment: 19 pages, 7 figure

Microscopic and self-consistent description for neutron halo in deformed nuclei

A deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum has been developed for the study of neutron halos in deformed nuclei and the halo phenomenon in deformed weakly bound nuclei is investigated. Magnesium and neon isotopes are studied and some results are presented for the deformed neutron-rich and weakly bound nuclei 44Mg and 36Ne. The core of the former nucleus is prolate, but the halo has a slightly oblate shape. This indicates a decoupling of the halo orbitals from the deformation of the core. The generic conditions for the existence of halos in deformed nuclei and for the occurrence of this decoupling effect are discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures; invited talk at the XXXV Brazilian Workshop on Nuclear Physics, Sep 2-6, 2012, Maresias, Brazi

Halos in a deformed Relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum

In this contribution we present some recent results about neutron halos in deformed nuclei. A deformed relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory in continuum has been developed and the halo phenomenon in deformed weakly bound nuclei is investigated. These weakly bound quantum systems present interesting examples for the study of the interdependence between the deformation of the core and the particles in the halo. Magnesium and neon isotopes are studied and detailed results are presented for the deformed neutron-rich and weakly bound nuclei 42Mg. The core of this nucleus is prolate, but the halo has a slightly oblate shape. This indicates a decoupling of the halo orbitals from the deformation of the core. The generic conditions for the existence of halos in deformed nuclei and for the occurrence of this decoupling effect are discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; invited talk at the 2nd Int. Conf. on Nuclear Structure & Dynamics (NSD12), Opatija, Croatia, 9-13 July 201

The GBTIA, a 5 Gbit/s Radiation-Hard Optical Receiver for the SLHC Upgrades

The GigaBit Transceiver (GBT) is a high-speed optical transmission system currently under development for HEP applications. This system will implement bi-directional optical links to be used in the radiation environment of the Super LHC. The GigaBit Transimpedance Amplifier (GBTIA) is the front-end optical receiver of the GBT chip set. This paper presents the GBTIA, a 5 Gbit/s, fully differential, and highly sensitive optical receiver designed and implemented in a commercial 0.13 μm CMOS process. When connected to a PIN-diode, the GBTIA displays a sensitivity better than −19 dBm for a BER of 10−12. The differential output across an external 50 Ω load remains constant at 400 mVpp even for signals near the sensitivity limit. The chip achieves an overall transimpedance gain of 20 kΩ with a measured bandwidth of 4 GHz. The total power consumption of the chip is less than 120 mW and the chip die size is 0.75 mm x 1.25 mm. Irradiation testing of the chip shows no performance degradation after a dose rate of 200 Mrad

Doing academic assignments: Whether to use a wiki or an alternative platform

Using a wiki in a group project can be a valuable experience, particularly when students are able to learn about collaboration between group members. Because they are not given a defined structure, students can flexibly design content with multimodality through the use of a wiki. However, students commonly experience some form of technical difficulty when using a wiki. A pilot study of two courses explored what preferred applications students used when preparing group wiki-based projects in one course, and it examined why some students preferred to use platforms other than a wiki in the other course. Results from the end-of-course survey suggest that while students were aware of features available in wikis, they preferred to use web tools that they were already familiar with to develop web-based products. Many students remarked that there was a lack of technical preparation for this learning platform, or they did not see the value in continuing to use wikis after completing the course. Also, some indicated that they favoured email applications such as Hotmail for collaboration and feedback purposes. Suggestions are offered to educators on how to improve student reception of wikis and other Web 2.0 e-learning tools. © 2010 IADIS.postprintThe 2010 IADIS International Conference on e-Learning, Freiburg, Germany, 26-30 July 2010. In Proceedings of the IADIS International Conference on e-Learning, 2010, v. 2, p. 209-21

Fantastic Behavior of High-TC Superconductor Junctions: Tunable Superconductivity

Carrier injection performed in oxygen-deficient YBa2Cu3O7(YBCO) hetero-structure junctions exhibited tunable resistance that was entirely different with behaviors of semiconductor devices. Tunable superconductivity in YBCO junctions, increasing over 20 K in transition temperature, has achieved by using electric processes. To our knowledge, this is the first observation that intrinsic property of high TC superconductors superconductivity can be adjusted as tunable functional parameters of devices. The fantastic phenomenon caused by carrier injection was discussed based on a proposed charge carrier self-trapping model and BCS theory.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Role of surgical setting and patients-related factors in predicting the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary complications after abdominal surgery

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the role of surgical setting (urgent vs. elective) and approach (open vs. laparoscopic) in affecting postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) prevalence in patients undergoing abdominal surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: After local Ethical Committee approval, 409 patients who had undergone abdominal surgery between January and December 2014 were included in the final analysis. PPCs were defined as the development of one of the following new findings: respiratory failure, pulmonary infection, aspiration pneumonia, pleural effusion, pneumothorax, atelectasis on chest X-ray, bronchospasm or un-planned urgent re-intubation. RESULTS: PPCs prevalence was greater in urgent (33%) vs. elective setting (7%) (chi(2) with Yates correction: 44; p=0.0001) and in open (6%) vs. laparoscopic approach (1.9%) (chi(2) with Yates correction: 12; p=0.0006). PPCs occurrence was positively correlated with in-hospital mortality (Biserial Correlation r=0.37; p=0.0001). Logistic regression showed that urgent setting (p=0.000), Ariscat (Assess Respiratory Risk in Surgical Patients in Catalonia) score (p=0.004), and age (p=0.01) were predictors of PPCs. A cutoff of 23 for Ariscat score was also identified as determining factor for PPCs occurrence with 94% sensitivity and 29% specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Patients undergoing abdominal surgery in an urgent setting were exposed to a higher risk of PPCs compared to patients scheduled for elective procedures. Ariscat score fitted with PPCs prevalence and older patients were exposed to a higher risk of PPCs. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these result

Incompressible SPH simulation of wave interaction with porous structure

In this paper an incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (ISPH) method is applied to investigate the flow motion in and around the porous structure. In order to describe in a simple and effective way the flow through the interface between the porous region and pure fluid region within the SPH framework, a heuristic boundary treatment method has been proposed. The ISPH model is first verified against a theoretical model of wave propagation over a porous bed and then further validated by comparing the predicted wave surface profiles and flow velocity fields with the experiment data for a typical case of flow motion around and inside a submerged porous structure. The good agreement has demonstrated that the improved ISPH model developed in this work is capable of modelling wave interaction with porous structures