Sweeping the Space of Admissible Quark Mass Matrices

We propose a new and efficient method of reconstructing quark mass matrices from their eigenvalues and a complete set of mixing observables. By a combination of the principle of NNI (nearest neighbour interaction) bases which are known to cover the general case, and of the polar decomposition theorem that allows to convert arbitrary nonsingular matrices to triangular form, we achieve a parameterization where the remaining freedom is reduced to one complex parameter. While this parameter runs through the domain bounded by a circle with radius R determined by the up-quark masses around the origin in the complex plane one sweeps the space of all mass matrices compatible with the given set of data.Comment: 18 page

Science-Technology-Industry Network The Competitiveness of Swiss Biotechnology: A Case Study of Innovation

This study proposes to analyse in an exploratory way the state of innovation and production systems in Swiss biotechnology and especially its innovative capacity and related factors. As biotechnology as such cannot be considered as an industrial sector but rather as a set of technologies developed in the field of life sciences, the direct link with science makes innovative capacity a major determinant of competitiveness. While large multinationals, such as biopharmaceuticals, may not need local technology suppliers, the presence of a local industry of research-based firms and technology suppliers is critical, because the industry is, by itself, a major source of growth and social progress. By observing how research and development (R&D) activities are organised in the field of biotechnology, we try to identify the relations existing between universities and the biotechnology industry, but also the relations between biotechnology firms among themselves.

NNI-Form Quark Mass Matrix Expressed by the Observable Quantities

It is pointed out that the phase convention of the CKM matrix V affects texture analysis of the quark mass matrices (M_u, M_d) when we try to describe (M_u, M_d) by the observable quantities (quark masses and CKM matrix parameters) only. This is demonstrated for a case of the non-Hermitian Fritzsch-type mass matrix (tilde{M}_u, tilde{M}_d), which is a general expression of quark mass matrix (M_u, M_d) and is described by twelve parameters. We find that we can always choose a phase convention of V which yields tilde{M}_{u32} = 0, so that the remaining ten parameters in (tilde{M}_u, tilde{M}_d) can completely be expressed by the ten observable quantities.Comment: 11 pages (LaTeX); Title was change

Development of Thick-foil and Fine-pitch GEMs with a Laser Etching Technique

We have produced thick-foil and fine-pitch gas electron multipliers (GEMs) using a laser etching technique. To improve production yield we have employed a new material, Liquid Crystal Polymer, instead of polyimide as an insulator layer. The effective gain of the thick-foil GEM with a hole pitch of 140 um, a hole diameter of 70 um, and a thickness of 100 um reached a value of 10^4 at an applied voltage of 720 V. The measured effective gain of the thick-foil and fine-pitch GEM (80 um pitch, 40 um diameter, and 100 um thick) was similar to that of the thick-foil GEM. The gain stability was measured for the thick-foil and fine-pitch GEM, showing no significant increase or decrease as a function of elapsed time from applying the high voltage. The gain stability over 3 h of operation was about 0.5%. Gain mapping across the GEM showed a good uniformity with a standard deviation of about 4%. The distribution of hole diameters across the GEM was homogeneous with a standard deviation of about 3%. There was no clear correlation between the gain and hole diameter maps.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure

Preparation of amino-substituted indenes and 1,4-dihydronaphthalenes using a one-pot multireaction approach: total synthesis of oxybenzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids

Allylic trichloroacetimidates bearing a 2-vinyl or 2-allylaryl group have been designed as substrates for a one-pot, two-step multi-bond-forming process leading to the general preparation of aminoindenes and amino-substituted 1,4-dihydronaphthalenes. The synthetic utility of the privileged structures formed from this one-pot process was demonstrated with the total synthesis of four oxybenzo[c]phenanthridine alkaloids, oxychelerythrine, oxysanguinarine, oxynitidine, and oxyavicine. An intramolecular biaryl Heck coupling reaction, catalyzed using the Hermann–Beller palladacycle was used to effect the key step during the synthesis of the natural products