A new insight into the observation of spectroscopic strength reduction in atomic nuclei: implication for the physical meaning of spectroscopic factors

Experimental studies of one nucleon knockout from magic nuclei suggest that their nucleon orbits are not fully occupied. This conflicts a commonly accepted view of the shell closure associated with such nuclei. The conflict can be reconciled if the overlap between initial and final nuclear states in a knockout reaction are calculated by a non-standard method. The method employs an inhomogeneous equation based on correlation-dependent effective nucleon-nucleon (NN) interactions and allows the simplest wave functions, in which all nucleons occupy only the lowest nuclear orbits, to be used. The method also reproduces the recently established relation between reduction of spectroscopic strength, observed in knockout reactions on other nuclei, and nucleon binding energies. The implication of the inhomogeneous equation method for the physical meaning of spectroscopic factors is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, accepted by Phys. Rev. Let

Solving kk-means on High-dimensional Big Data

In recent years, there have been major efforts to develop data stream algorithms that process inputs in one pass over the data with little memory requirement. For the $k$-means problem, this has led to the development of several $(1+\varepsilon)$-approximations (under the assumption that $k$ is a constant), but also to the design of algorithms that are extremely fast in practice and compute solutions of high accuracy. However, when not only the length of the stream is high but also the dimensionality of the input points, then current methods reach their limits. We propose two algorithms, piecy and piecy-mr that are based on the recently developed data stream algorithm BICO that can process high dimensional data in one pass and output a solution of high quality. While piecy is suited for high dimensional data with a medium number of points, piecy-mr is meant for high dimensional data that comes in a very long stream. We provide an extensive experimental study to evaluate piecy and piecy-mr that shows the strength of the new algorithms.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, published at the 14th International Symposium on Experimental Algorithms - SEA 201

Non-equilibrium VLS-grown stable ST12-Ge thin film on Si substrate: A study on strain-induced band-engineering

The current work describes a novel method of growing thin films of stable crystalline ST12-Ge, a high pressure polymorph of Ge, on Si substrate by a non-equilibrium VLS-technique. The study explores the scheme of band engineering of ST12-Ge by inducing process-stress into it as a function of the growth temperature and film thickness. In the present work, ST12-Ge films are grown at 180 C - 250 C to obtain thicknesses of ~4.5-7.5 nm, which possess extremely good thermal stability up to a temperature of ~350 C. Micro-Raman study shows the stress induced in such ST12-Ge films to be compressive in nature and vary in the range of ~0.5-7.5 GPa. The measured direct band gap is observed to vary within 0.688 eV to 0.711 eV for such stresses, and four indirect band gaps are obtained to be 0.583 eV, 0.614-0.628 eV, 0.622-0.63 eV and 0.623-0.632 eV, accordingly. The corresponding band structures for unstrained and strained ST12-Ge are calculated by performing DFT simulation, which shows that a compressive stress transforms the fundamental band gap at M-G valley from indirect to direct one. Henceforth, the possible route of strain induced band engineering in ST12-Ge is explored by analyzing all the transitions in strained and unstrained band structures along with substantiation of the experimental results and theoretical calculations. The investigation shows that unstrained ST12-Ge is a natural n-type semiconductor which transforms into p-type upon incorporation of a compressive stress of ~5 GPa, with the in-plane electron effective mass components at M-G band edge to be ~0.09 me. Therefore, such band engineered ST12-Ge exhibits superior mobility along with its thermal stability and compatibility with Si, which can have potential applications to develop high-speed MOS devices for advanced CMOS technology

Comparative analysis of LiMPO4 (M = Fe, Co, Cr, Mn, V) as cathode materials for lithium-ion battery applications - a first-principle-based theoretical approach.

This is the final version. Available from MDPI via the DOI in this record. Data Availability Statement: The raw/processed data required to reproduce the above findings cannot be shared at this time, as the data also forms part of an ongoing studyThe rapidly increasing demand for energy storage has been consistently driving the exploration of different materials for Li-ion batteries, where the olivine lithium-metal phosphates (LiMPO4) are considered one of the most potential candidates for cathode-electrode design. In this context, the work presents an extensive comparative theoretical study of the electrochemical and electrical properties of iron (Fe)-, cobalt (Co)-, manganese (Mn)-, chromium (Cr)-, and vanadium (V)-based LiMPO4 materials for cathode design in lithium (Li)-ion battery applications, using the density-functional-theory (DFT)-based first-principle-calculation approach. The work emphasized different material and performance aspects of the cathode design, including the cohesive energy of the material, Li-intercalation energy in olivine structure, and intrinsic diffusion coefficient across the Li channel, as well as equilibrium potential and open-circuit potential at different charge-states of Li-ion batteries. The results indicate the specification of the metal atom significantly influences the Li diffusion across the olivine structure and the overall energetics of different LiMPO4. In this context, a clear correlation between the structural and electrochemical properties has been demonstrated in different LiMPO4. The key findings offer significant theoretical and design-level insight for estimating the performance of studied LiMPO4-based Li-ion batteries while interfacing with different application areas.Outstanding Potential for Excellence in Research and Academics (OPERA) Grant by BITS-Pilani, IndiaStartup Research Grant (SRG) by DST-SER

Study of thyroid dysfunction and dyslipidemia in chronic kidney diseases

Background: Though there are many studies on thyroid dysfunction and dyslipidemia in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), no study is conclusive. Aim of this study was to correlate abnormalities in thyroid function and lipid profile with the severity of renal failure and also to observe the difference of these abnormalities between patients on conservative management verses hemodialysis.Methods: Hundred consecutive CKD cases admitted to Medicine Department were taken up for the study. They were divided into two groups as Group-A [on conservative management] and Group-B [on regular Hemodialysis (HD)]. Hundred healthy persons were taken as control in Group-C. After evaluation of thyroid function and lipid profile statistical analysis was done by students t-test, chi-square and regression analysis.Results: Hundred CKD cases with 74% male (n=74) and 26% female (n=26) in a M: F ratio of 2.9:1 were found to be in different stages CKD (0, 2, 20, 28 and 50 in stage-1 to stage-5 respectively). In 50 cases of stage-5 CKD, 30 were on HD and 20 on conservative management. Diabetes Mellitus (DM) (40%) was the commonest etiology of CKD followed by Hypertension (HTN), obstructive uropathy, chronic glomerulonephritis (CGN) and polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Thyromegaly was not found in a single case. In all CKD cases (Group-A+B) TT3 (TT3) was significantly low (P =0.0011) when compared with control (Group-C) and no difference was found between Group-A and Group-B. Fall in TT3 worsened with increasing severity of CKD. Lipid profile study revealed Decreased High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (HDLc) and increased Triglyceride (TG), Total Cholesterol (TC), Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (LDLc), TC/HDLc and LDLc/HDLc in Group-A than Group-B but only TG and TC increase was statistically significant. The levels of TG and TC and TC/HDLc increased as the stage of CKD progressed and was statistically significant (P= 0.035).Conclusions: There occurs a state of biochemical hypothyroidism without overt clinical hypothyroid state in CKD, the extent of which correlates with the severity of CKD. Increased cardiovascular complications occur due to accelerated atherosclerosis in CKD. This study confirmed that atherogenic lipid profile and thyroid dysfunction worsen with the progression of disease. Difference between patients on conservative management and HD was not found

6Li direct breakup lifetimes

alpha-d coincidence data were studied for the 6Li + 59Co reaction at E(lab) = 29.6 MeV. By using a kinematic analysis, it was possible to identify which process, leading to the same final state, has the major contribution for each of the selected angular regions. Contributions of the 6Li sequential and direct breakup to the incomplete fusion/transfer process were discussed by considering the lifetimes obtained by using a semiclassical approach, for both breakup components.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, Invited Talk (Parrallel Sessions) of A. Szanto de Toledo, prepared for the Proccedings of the 10th International Conference on Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions, August 16-21, 2009, Beijing, China; submitted to Nucl. Phys. A (Proceedings of NN2009

Lifetime of 19Ne*(4.03 MeV)

The Doppler-shift attenuation method was applied to measure the lifetime of the 4.03 MeV state in 19Ne. Utilizing a 3He-implanted Au foil as a target, the state was populated using the 20Ne(3He,alpha)19Ne reaction in inverse kinematics at a 20Ne beam energy of 34 MeV. De-excitation gamma rays were detected in coincidence with alpha particles. At the 1 sigma level, the lifetime was determined to be 11 +4, -3 fs and at the 95.45% confidence level the lifetime is 11 +8, -7 fs.Comment: 6 pages, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Measurement of two-halo neutron transfer reaction p(11^{11}Li,9^{9}Li)t at 3AA MeV

The p(\nuc{11}{Li},\nuc{9}{Li})t reaction has been studied for the first time at an incident energy of 3$A$ MeV delivered by the new ISAC-2 facility at TRIUMF. An active target detector MAYA, build at GANIL, was used for the measurement. The differential cross sectionshave been determined for transitions to the \nuc{9}{Li} ground andthe first excited states in a wide range of scattering angles. Multistep transfer calculations using different \nuc{11}{Li} model wave functions, shows that wave functions with strong correlations between the halo neutrons are the most successful in reproducing the observation.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter

Stability Indicating RP-HPLC Method for Determination of Valsartan in Pure and Pharmaceutical Formulation

Abstract: A simple, rapid and accurate and stability indicating RP-HPLC method was developed for the determination of valsartan in pure and tablet forms. The method showed a linear response for concentrations in the range of 50-175 µg/mL using 0.01 M NH 4 H 2 PO 4 (pH 3.5) buffer: methanol [50:50] as the mobile phase with detection at 210 nm and a flow rate of 1 mL/min and retention time 11.041 min. The method was statistically validated for accuracy, precision, linearity, ruggedness, robustness, forced degradation, solution stability and selectivity. Quantitative and recovery studies of the dosage form were also carried out and analyzed; the % RSD from recovery studies was found to be less than 1. Due to simplicity, rapidity and accuracy of the method, we believe that the method will be useful for routine quality control analysis

Search for {\eta}'(958)-nucleus bound states by (p,d) reaction at GSI and FAIR

The mass of the {\eta}' meson is theoretically expected to be reduced at finite density, which indicates the existence of {\eta}'-nucleus bound states. To investigate these states, we perform missing-mass spectroscopy for the (p, d) reaction near the {\eta}' production threshold. The overview of the experimental situation is given and the current status is discussed.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures; talk at II Symposium on applied nuclear physics and innovative technologies, September 24th - 27th, 2014, Jagiellonian University, Krak\'ow Poland; to appear in Acta Physica Polonica