Two-neutron transfer reaction mechanisms in 12^{12}C(6^6He,4^{4}He)14^{14}C using a realistic three-body 6^{6}He model

The reaction mechanisms of the two-neutron transfer reaction $^{12}$C($^6$He,$^4$He) have been studied at 30 MeV at the TRIUMF ISAC-II facility using the SHARC charged-particle detector array. Optical potential parameters have been extracted from the analysis of the elastic scattering angular distribution. The new potential has been applied to the study of the transfer angular distribution to the 2$^+_2$ 8.32 MeV state in $^{14}$C, using a realistic 3-body $^6$He model and advanced shell model calculations for the carbon structure, allowing to calculate the relative contributions of the simultaneous and sequential two-neutron transfer. The reaction model provides a good description of the 30 MeV data set and shows that the simultaneous process is the dominant transfer mechanism. Sensitivity tests of optical potential parameters show that the final results can be considerably affected by the choice of optical potentials. A reanalysis of data measured previously at 18 MeV however, is not as well described by the same reaction model, suggesting that one needs to include higher order effects in the reaction mechanism.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

High-Precision Measurement of the 19Ne Half-Life and Implications for Right-Handed Weak Currents

We report a precise determination of the 19Ne half-life to be $T_{1/2} = 17.262 \pm 0.007$ s. This result disagrees with the most recent precision measurements and is important for placing bounds on predicted right-handed interactions that are absent in the current Standard Model. We are able to identify and disentangle two competing systematic effects that influence the accuracy of such measurements. Our findings prompt a reassessment of results from previous high-precision lifetime measurements that used similar equipment and methods.Comment: 5 pages and 5 figures. Paper accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let

On Refining Design Patterns for Smart Contracts: A use case on water management

The need for a Blockchain Oriented Software Engineering (BOSE) has been recognized in several research papers. Design Patterns are considered among the main and compelling areas to be developed in BOSE. Anyway, design patterns need to be enhanced with some additional fields to better support the specific needs of Blockchain development. In this paper, we discuss the use of Solidity design patterns applied to a water management use case and we introduce specific fields in their description, aiming at offering to Blockchain developers more support in the critical decisions to build efficient decentralized applications

A Dip Into a Deep Well: Online Political Advertisements, Valence, and European Electoral Campaigning

Online political advertisements have become an important element in electoral campaigning throughout the world. At the same time, concepts such as disinformation and manipulation have emerged as a global concern. Although these concepts are distinct from online political ads and data-driven electoral campaigning, they tend to share a similar trait related to valence, the intrinsic attractiveness or averseness of a message. Given this background, the paper examines online political ads by using a dataset collected from Google's transparency reports. The examination is framed to the mid-2019 situation in Europe, including the European Parliament elections in particular. According to the results based on sentiment analysis of the textual ads displayed via Google's advertisement machinery, (i) most of the political ads have expressed positive sentiments, although these vary greatly between (ii) European countries as well as across (iii) European political parties. In addition to these results, the paper contributes to the timely discussion about data-driven electoral campaigning and its relation to politics and democracy

Introduction : From Fundamentals to Advances in Crowdfunding Research and Practice

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Identifying the science and technology dimensions of emerging public policy issues through horizon scanning

Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security.Public policy requires public support, which in turn implies a need to enable the public not just to understand policy but also to be engaged in its development. Where complex science and technology issues are involved in policy making, this takes time, so it is important to identify emerging issues of this type and prepare engagement plans. In our horizon scanning exercise, we used a modified Delphi technique [1]. A wide group of people with interests in the science and policy interface (drawn from policy makers, policy adviser, practitioners, the private sector and academics) elicited a long list of emergent policy issues in which science and technology would feature strongly and which would also necessitate public engagement as policies are developed. This was then refined to a short list of top priorities for policy makers. Thirty issues were identified within broad areas of business and technology; energy and environment; government, politics and education; health, healthcare, population and aging; information, communication, infrastructure and transport; and public safety and national security

Inelastic scattering of 9Li and excitation mechanism of its first excited state

The first measurement of inelastic scattering of 9Li from deuterons at the ISAC facility is reported. The measured angular distribution for the first excited state confirms the nature of excitation to be an E2 transition. The quadrupole deformation parameter is extracted from an analysis of the angular distribution.Web of Scienc