Spin-Flip Interactions and the Puzzle of psi's Polarization at Tevatron

Nonrelativistic QCD provides a systematic approach for inclusive decays and productions of a quarkonium. By taking color-octet components into account, the approach can explain the $\psi'$-anomaly at Tevatron, where the measured production rate at large transverse momentum $p_\perp$ is in order of magnitude larger than the predicted with color-singlet components only. With the approach one can predict that the produced $J/\psi$ and $\psi'$ at large $p_\perp$ will be transversely polarized. But the prediction fails in confronting with experimental measurements and this generates a puzzle. We examine the role of spin-flip interactions in the spin density matrix of the transition of a color-octet charm quark pair into $J/\psi$ and $\psi'$. These interactions will introduce new nonperturbative parameters in the spin density matrix. Our result shows that the impact of the interactions is always to dilute the polarization and can be very significant. Taking the impact into account, predictions for the polarization are more close to the measured than the previous predicted. The same can also be expected for the polarization of $J/\psi$.Comment: match the published version Phys.Lett.B645:180-184,200

Synthesis of Novel Flower-Like Zn(OH)F via a Microwave-Assisted Ionic Liquid Route and Transformation into Nanoporous ZnO by Heat Treatment

Zinc hydroxide fluoride (Zn(OH)F) with novel flower-like morphology has been prepared via a microwave-assisted ionic liquid route. The flower-like Zn(OH)F particle has six petals and every petal is composed of lots of acicular nano-structure. Nanoporous ZnO is obtained by thermal decomposition of as-prepared Zn(OH)F in air, and the flower-like morphology is well retained. In the process of synthesis, ionic liquid 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate is used as both the reactant and the template

Chromo- and Fluorogenic Organometallic Sensors

Compounds that change their absorption and/or emission properties in the presence of a target ion or molecule have been studied for many years as the basis for optical sensing. Within this group of compounds, a variety of organometallic complexes have been proposed for the detection of a wide range of analytes such as cations (including H+), anions, gases (e.g. O 2, SO2, organic vapours), small organic molecules, and large biomolecules (e.g. proteins, DNA). This chapter focuses on work reported within the last few years in the area of organometallic sensors. Some of the most extensively studied systems incorporate metal moieties with intense long-lived metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) excited states as the reporter or indicator unit, such as fac-tricarbonyl Re(I) complexes, cyclometallated Ir(III) species, and diimine Ru(II) or Os(II) derivatives. Other commonly used organometallic sensors are based on Pt-alkynyls and ferrocene fragments. To these reporters, an appropriate recognition or analyte-binding unit is usually attached so that a detectable modification on the colour and/or the emission of the complex occurs upon binding of the analyte. Examples of recognition sites include macrocycles for the binding of cations, H-bonding units selective to specific anions, and DNA intercalating fragments. A different approach is used for the detection of some gases or vapours, where the sensor's response is associated with changes in the crystal packing of the complex on absorption of the gas, or to direct coordination of the analyte to the metal centre

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Relationship between structure and microwave dielectric properties of Li3Mg4Nb1-xTaxO8 ceramics

Herein, the sintering behavior and dielectric properties of Ta5+-doped Li3Mg4NbO8 ceramics were investigated by solid-phase reactions in combination with first-principles calculations. In particular, Li3Mg4Nb0.96Ta0.04O8 illustrates the best dielectric properties after sintering at 1,175 °C with εr = 13.71 ± 0.20, Q × f = (132,112 ± 2,391) GHz (increased by 25%) and τf = (25.07 ± 1.36) × 10−6 °C−1. The non-intrinsic factors reflect that a small amount of Ta5+ doping produces a secondary phase, increased densification, and grain size, all of which optimize the dielectric properties. The dominant intrinsic factors indicate that the increase in bond ionicity, the greater polarization of Ta5+, and the blueshift of the Raman characteristic peak all lead to an increase in εr. The increase in lattice energy and the decrease in the damping behavior of the Nb/Ta-O bond vibrations lead to an increase in Q × f. The weakening of the Nb/TaO6 octahedral distortion leads to an optimization of τf. The modified Li3Mg4Nb0.96Ta0.04O8 ceramics have promising applications in microwave communications