Search for Bs0B^{0}_{s} oscillations using inclusive lepton events

A search for Bs oscillations is performed using a sample of semileptonic b-hadron decays collected by the ALEPH experiment during 1991-1995. Compared to previous inclusive lepton analyses, the prop er time resolution and b-flavour mistag rate are significantly improved. Additional sensitivity to Bs mixing is obtained by identifying subsamples of events having a Bs purity which is higher than the average for the whole data sample. Unbinned maximum likelihood amplitude fits are performed to derive a lower limit of Dms>9.5 ps-1 at 95% CL. Combining with the ALEPH Ds based analyses yields Dms>9.6 ps-1 at 95% CL.A search for B0s oscillations is performed using a sample of semileptonic b-hadron decays collected by the ALEPH experiment during 1991-1995. Compared to previous inclusive lepton analyses, the proper time resolution and b-flavour mistag rate are significantly improved. Additional sensitivity to B0s mixing is obtained by identifying subsamples of events having a B0s purity which is higher than the average for the whole data sample. Unbinned maximum likelihood amplitude fits are performed to derive a lower limit of Deltam_s>9.5ps^-1 at 95% CL. Combining with the ALEPH D-s based analyses yields Deltam_s>9.6ps^-1 at 95% CL

Scaling laws for the critical rupture thickness of common thin films

[Abstract]: Despite decades of experimental and theoretical investigation on thin films, considerable uncertainty exists in the prediction of their critical rupture thickness. According to the spontaneous rupture mechanism, common thin films become unstable when capillary waves at the interfaces begin to grow. In a horizontal film with symmetry at the midplane, unstable waves from adjacent interfaces grow towards the center of the film. As the film drains and becomes thinner, unstable waves osculate and cause the film to rupture. Uncertainty stems from a number of sources including the theories used to predict film drainage and corrugation growth dynamics. In the early studies, the linear stability of small amplitude waves was investigated in the context of the quasi-static approximation in which the dynamics of wave growth and film thinning are separated. The zeroth order wave growth equation of Vrij predicts faster wave growth rates than the first order equation derived by Sharma and Ruckenstein. It has been demonstrated in an accompanying paper that film drainage rates and times measured by numerous investigations are bounded by the predictions of the Reynolds equation and the more recent theory of Manev, Tsekov, and Radoev. Solutions to combinations of these equations yield simple scaling laws which should bound the critical rupture thickness of foam and emulsion films. In this paper, critical thickness measurements reported in the literature are compared to predictions from the bounding scaling equations and it is shown that the retarded Hamaker constants derived from approximate Lifshitz theory underestimate the critical thickness of foam and emulsion films. The non-retarded Hamaker constant more adequately bounds the critical thickness measurements over the entire range of film radii reported in the literature. This result reinforces observations made by other independent researchers that interfacial interactions in flexible liquid films are not adequately represented by the retarded Hamaker constant obtained from Lifshitz theory and that the interactions become significant at much greater separations than previously thought

Public Duty and Private Prejudice: Sexualities, Equalities and Local Government

Rather than critiquing social institutions and practices that have historically excluded lesbians and gay men, as did earlier social movements in the 1960s and 1970s, since the 1990s the politics of sexuality has increasingly been about demanding equal rights of citizenship. These citizenship demands have, at least to a degree, been answered via a raft of recent legislation in the UK including the Adoption and Children Act 2002, Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003, Gender Recognition Act 2004 and the Civil Partnership Act 2004, and by associated changes in policy making and practice that emphasize ‘Equality and Diversity’. In this article we consider how the implementation of sexualities equalities policies is related to processes of privatization and individualization. This is illustrated by using sexualities equalities work in local government as a case study to indicate how processes of change and resistance are aided by these processes. The article draws on findings from a study of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) equalities initiatives in local government in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which examined the views of those who now have a public duty to implement recent legislative and policy shifts and are obliged to develop equalities initiatives concerning ‘sexual orientation' and ‘gender reassignment’

Bounding film drainage in common thin films

A review of thin film drainage models is presented in which the predictions of thinning velocities and drainage times are compared to reported values on foam and emulsion films found in the literature. Free standing films with tangentially immobile interfaces and suppressed electrostatic repulsion are considered, such as those studied in capillary cells. The experimental thinning velocities and drainage times of foams and emulsions are shown to be bounded by predictions from the Reynolds and the theoretical MTsR equations. The semi-empirical MTsR and the surface wave equations were the most consistently accurate with all of the films considered. These results are used in an accompanying paper to develop scaling laws that bound the critical film thickness of foam and emulsion films. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Eogenetic Karst from the Perspective of an Equivalent Porous Medium

The porosity of young limestones experiencing meteoric diagenesis in the vicinity of their deposition (eogenetic karst) is mainly a double porosity consisting of touching-vug channels and preferred passageways lacing through a matrix of interparticle porosity. In contrast, the porosity of limestones experiencing subaerial erosion following burial diagenesis and uplift (telogenetic karst) is mainly a double porosity consisting of conduits within a network of fractures. The stark contrast between these two kinds of karst is illustrated by their position on a graph showing the hydraulic characteristics of an equivalent porous medium consisting of straight, cylindrical tubes (n-D space, where n is porosity,D is the diameter of the tubes, and logn is plotted against logD). Studies of the hydrology of small carbonate islands show that large-scale, horizontal hydraulic conductivity (K) increases by orders of magnitude during the evolution of eogenetic karst. Earlier petrologic studies have shown there is little if any change in the total porosity of the limestone during eogenetic diagenesis. The limestone of eogenetic karst, therefore, tracks horizontally inn-D space. In contrast, the path from initial sedimentary material to telogenetic karst comprises a descent on the graph with reduction ofn during burial diagenesis, then a sideways shift with increasingD due to opening of fractures during uplift and exposure, and finally an increase inD andn during development of the conduits along the fractures. Eogenetic caves are mainly limited to boundaries between geologic units and hydrologic zones: stream caves at the contact between carbonates and underlying impermeable rocks (and collapse-origin caves derived therefrom); vertical caves along platform-margin fractures; epikarst; phreatic pockets (banana holes) along the water table; and flank margin caves that form as mixing chambers at the coastal freshwater-saltwater “interface”. In contrast, the caverns of telogenetic karst are part of a system of interconnected conduits that drain an entire region. The eogenetic caves of small carbonate islands are, for the most part, not significantly involved in the drainage of the island