Single and pair production of heavy leptons in E6E_6 model

We investigate the single and pair production of new heavy leptons via string inspired $E_{6}$ model at future linear colliders. Signal and corresponding backgrounds for these leptons are studied. We have found that single production of heavy leptons is more relevant than that of pair production, as expected. For a maximal mixing value of 0.1, the upper mass limits of 2750 GeV in the single case and 1250 GeV in the pair production case are obtained at $\sqrt{s}=3$ TeV collider option.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figure

Computational Fluid Dynamic Studies of Vortex Amplifier Design for the Nuclear Industry—I. Steady-State Conditions

In this study the effects of changes to the geometry of a vortex amplifier are investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques, in the context of glovebox operations for the nuclear industry. These investigations were required because of anomalous behavior identified when, for operational reasons, a long-established vortex amplifier design was reduced in scale. The aims were (i) to simulate both the anomalous back-flow into the glovebox through the vortex amplifier supply ports, and the precessing vortex core in the amplifier outlet, then (ii) to determine which of the various simulated geometries would best alleviate the supply port back-flow anomaly. Various changes to the geometry of the vortex amplifier were proposed; smoke and air tests were then used to identify a subset of these geometries for subsequent simulation using CFD techniques. Having verified the mesh resolution was sufficient to reproduce the required effects, the code was then validated by comparing the results of the steady-state simulations with the experimental data. The problem is challenging in terms of the range of geometrical and dynamic scales encountered, with consequent impact on mesh quality and turbulence modeling. The anomalous nonaxisymmetric reverse flow in the supply ports of the vortex amplifier has been captured and the mixing in both the chamber and the precessing vortex core has also been successfully reproduced. Finally, by simulating changes to the supply ports that could not be reproduced experimentally at an equivalent cost, the geometry most likely to alleviate the back-flow anomaly has been identified

Water Formation Reaction under Interfacial Confinement: Al0.25Si0.75O2 on O-Ru(0001)

Confined nanosized spaces at the interface between a metal and a seemingly inert material, such as a silicate, have recently been shown to influence the chemistry at the metal surface. In prior work, we observed that a bilayer (BL) silica on Ru(0001) can change the reaction pathway of the water formation reaction (WFR) near room temperature when compared to the bare metal. In this work, we looked at the effect of doping the silicate with Al, resulting in a stoichiometry of AlSiO . We investigated the kinetics of WFR at elevated H pressures and various temperatures under interfacial confinement using ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The apparent activation energy was lower than that on bare Ru(0001) but higher than that on the BL-silica/Ru(0001). The apparent reaction order with respect to H was also determined. The increased residence time of water at the surface, resulting from the presence of the BL-aluminosilicate (and its subsequent electrostatic stabilization), favors the so-called disproportionation reaction pathway (*HO + *O ↔ 2 *OH), but with a higher energy barrier than for pure BL-silica.Research was carried out in part at the 23-ID-2 (IOS) beamline of the National Synchrotron Light Source II and the Center for Functional Nanomaterials, which are U.S. DOE Office of Science Facilities, and the Scientific Data and Computing Center, a component of the Computational Science Initiative, at Brookhaven National Laboratory under Contract No. DE-SC0012704. This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. J.C. thanks the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for a “Severo Ochoa” grant (BES-2015-075748) through “Severo Ochoa” Excellence Programme (SEV-2016-0683). Z.D. is supported by ACS PRF grant #61059-ND5

Pharmaceutical applications of lignin-derived chemicals and lignin-based materials: linking lignin source and processing with clinical indication

Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the most abundant bioresources on Earth. Over recent decades, various valorisation techniques have been developed to produce value-added products from the cellulosic and hemicellulosic fractions of this biomass. Lignin is the third major component accounting for 10–30% (w/w). However, it currently remains a largely unused fraction due to its recalcitrance and complex structure. The increase in the global demand for lignocellulosic biomass, for energy and chemical production, is increasing the amount of waste lignin available. Approaches to date for valorizing this renewable but heterogeneous chemical resource have mainly focused on production of materials and fine chemicals. Greater value could be gained by developing higher value pharmaceutical applications which would help to improve integrated biorefinery economics. In this review, different lignin extraction methods, such as organosolv and ionic liquid, and the properties and potential of the extracted chemical building blocks are first summarized with respect to pharmaceutical use. The review then discusses the many recent advances made regarding the medical or therapeutic potential of lignin-derived materials such as antimicrobial, antiviral, and antitumor compounds and in controlled drug delivery. The aim is to draw out the link between the source and the processing of the biomass and potential clinical applications. We then highlight four key areas for future research if therapeutic applications of lignin-derived products are to become commercially viable. These relate to the availability and processing of lignocellulosic biomass, technologies for the purification of specific compounds, enhancements in process yield, and progression to human clinical trials

Pharmaceutical applications of lignin-derived chemicals and lignin-based materials: linking lignin source and processing with clinical indication

Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the most abundant bioresources on Earth. Over recent decades, various valorisation techniques have been developed to produce value-added products from the cellulosic and hemicellulosic fractions of this biomass. Lignin is the third major component accounting for 10–30% (w/w). However, it currently remains a largely unused fraction due to its recalcitrance and complex structure. The increase in the global demand for lignocellulosic biomass, for energy and chemical production, is increasing the amount of waste lignin available. Approaches to date for valorizing this renewable but heterogeneous chemical resource have mainly focused on production of materials and fine chemicals. Greater value could be gained by developing higher value pharmaceutical applications which would help to improve integrated biorefinery economics. In this review, different lignin extraction methods, such as organosolv and ionic liquid, and the properties and potential of the extracted chemical building blocks are first summarized with respect to pharmaceutical use. The review then discusses the many recent advances made regarding the medical or therapeutic potential of lignin-derived materials such as antimicrobial, antiviral, and antitumor compounds and in controlled drug delivery. The aim is to draw out the link between the source and the processing of the biomass and potential clinical applications. We then highlight four key areas for future research if therapeutic applications of lignin-derived products are to become commercially viable. These relate to the availability and processing of lignocellulosic biomass, technologies for the purification of specific compounds, enhancements in process yield, and progression to human clinical trials

Inclusive Search for Anomalous Production of High-pT Like-Sign Lepton Pairs in Proton-Antiproton Collisions at sqrt{s}=1.8 TeV

We report on a search for anomalous production of events with at least two charged, isolated, like-sign leptons with pT > 11 GeV/c using a 107 pb^-1 sample of 1.8 TeV ppbar collisions collected by the CDF detector. We define a signal region containing low background from Standard Model processes. To avoid bias, we fix the final cuts before examining the event yield in the signal region using control regions to test the Monte Carlo predictions. We observe no events in the signal region, consistent with an expectation of 0.63^(+0.84)_(-0.07) events. We present 95% confidence level limits on new physics processes in both a signature-based context as well as within a representative minimal supergravity (tanbeta = 3) model.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures. Minor textual changes, cosmetic improvements to figures and updated and expanded reference

Measurement of the Lifetime Difference Between B_s Mass Eigenstates

We present measurements of the lifetimes and polarization amplitudes for B_s --> J/psi phi and B_d --> J/psi K*0 decays. Lifetimes of the heavy (H) and light (L) mass eigenstates in the B_s system are separately measured for the first time by determining the relative contributions of amplitudes with definite CP as a function of the decay time. Using 203 +/- 15 B_s decays, we obtain tau_L = (1.05 +{0.16}/-{0.13} +/- 0.02) ps and tau_H = (2.07 +{0.58}/-{0.46} +/- 0.03) ps. Expressed in terms of the difference DeltaGamma_s and average Gamma_s, of the decay rates of the two eigenstates, the results are DeltaGamma_s/Gamma_s = (65 +{25}/-{33} +/- 1)%, and DeltaGamma_s = (0.47 +{0.19}/-{0.24} +/- 0.01) inverse ps.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables; as published in Physical Review Letters on 16 March 2005; revisions are for length and typesetting only, no changes in results or conclusion

Measurement of WγW\gamma and ZγZ\gamma Production in ppˉp\bar{p} Collisions at s\sqrt{s} = 1.96 TeV

The Standard Model predictions for $W\gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ production are tested using an integrated luminosity of 200 pb$^{-1}$ of \ppbar collision data collected at the Collider Detector at Fermilab. The cross sections are measured selecting leptonic decays of the $W$ and $Z$ bosons, and photons with transverse energy $E_T>7$ GeV that are well separated from leptons. The production cross sections and kinematic distributions for the $W\gamma$ and $Z\gamma$ are compared to SM predictions.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR

Evidence for the exclusive decay Bc+- to J/psi pi+- and measurement of the mass of the Bc meson

We report first evidence for a fully reconstructed decay mode of the B_c^{\pm} meson in the channel B_c^{\pm} \to J/psi \pi^{\pm}, with J/psi \to mu^+mu^-. The analysis is based on an integrated luminosity of 360 pb$^{-1} in p\bar{p} collisions at 1.96 TeV center of mass energy collected by the Collider Detector at Fermilab. We observe 14.6 \pm 4.6 signal events with a background of 7.1 \pm 0.9 events, and a fit to the J/psi pi^{\pm} mass spectrum yields a B_c^{\pm} mass of 6285.7 \pm 5.3(stat) \pm 1.2(syst) MeV/c^2. The probability of a peak of this magnitude occurring by random fluctuation in the search region is estimated as 0.012%.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. Version 3, accepted by PR