24,119 research outputs found
Quarkonia in Hamiltonian Light-Front QCD
A constituent parton picture of hadrons with logarithmic confinement
naturally arises in weak coupling light-front QCD. Confinement provides a mass
gap that allows the constituent picture to emerge. The effective renormalized
Hamiltonian is computed to , and used to study charmonium and
bottomonium. Radial and angular excitations can be used to fix the coupling
, the quark mass , and the cutoff . The resultant hyperfine
structure is very close to experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 1 latex figure included in the text. Published version (much
more reader-friendly); corrected error in self-energ
Implementing the Lean Sigma Framework in an Indian SME: a case study
Lean and Six Sigma are two widely acknowledged business process improvement strategies available to organisations today for achieving dramatic results in cost, quality and time by focusing on process performance. Lately, Lean and Six Sigma practitioners are integrating the two strategies into a more powerful and effective hybrid, addressing many of the weaknesses and retaining most of the strengths of each strategy. Lean Sigma combines the variability reduction tools and techniques from Six Sigma with the waste and non-value added elimination tools and techniques from Lean Manufacturing, to generate savings to the bottom-line of an organisation. This paper proposes a Lean Sigma framework to reduce the defect occurring in the final product (automobile accessories) manufactured by a die-casting process. The proposed framework integrates Lean tools (current state map, 5S System, and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)) within Six Sigma DMAIC methodology to enhance the bottom-line results and win customer loyalty. Implementation of the proposed framework shows dramatic improvement in the key metrics (defect per unit (DPU), process capability index, mean and standard deviation of casting density, yield, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)) and a substantial financial savings is generated by the organisation
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Peptide-directed crystal growth modification in the formation of ZnO
Biomolecule-mediated synthesis is fascinating in terms of the level of control and the intricate hierarchical structures of the materials that can be produced. In this study we compare the behavior of a phage display identified peptide, EAHVMHKVAPRP (EM-12) with that of a mutant peptide EAHVCHKVAPRP (EC-12), having additional complexation capability, on the formation of ZnO from solution. The synthesis conditions (Zn(CH3COO)2âNH3 hydrothermal method at 50 °C) were chosen to generate rod-shaped ZnO via layered basic zinc salts (LBZs) as intermediates. Both peptides affected the crystal formation process by moderating the amount of Zn2+ ions in solution (EC12 having a greater effect than EM12) but only EC12 was shown to interact with the solid phase(s) formed during the reaction. Depending on the peptide concentration used, EM-12 was shown to delay and/or suppress ZnO formation. In contrast, additions of EC-12, although leading to the retention of higher levels of Zn2+ ions in solution did not similarly delay the transformation of the intermediate phases to ZnO but were found to dramatically modify the morphology of ZnO crystallites with mushroom shaped crystals being formed. From the results of detailed materials characterization and changes in the morphology observed, the interactions between the peptide(s) and solution and solid state species present during the process of ZnO crystal formation in the presence of EM-12 and EC-12 are proposed
Perturbative Tamm-Dancoff Renormalization
A new two-step renormalization procedure is proposed. In the first step, the
effects of high-energy states are considered in the conventional (Feynman)
perturbation theory. In the second step, the coupling to many-body states is
eliminated by a similarity transformation. The resultant effective Hamiltonian
contains only interactions which do not change particle number. It is subject
to numerical diagonalization. We apply the general procedure to a simple
example for the purpose of illustration.Comment: 20 pages, RevTeX, 10 figure
Note on restoring manifest rotational symmetry in hyperfine and fine structure in light-front QED
We study the part of the renormalized, cutoff QED light-front Hamiltonian
that does not change particle number. The Hamiltonian contains interactions
that must be treated in second-order bound state perturbation theory to obtain
hyperfine structure. We show that a simple unitary transformation leads
directly to the familiar Breit-Fermi spin-spin and tensor interactions, which
can be treated in degenerate first-order bound-state perturbation theory, thus
simplifying analytic light-front QED calculations. To the order in momenta we
need to consider, this transformation is equivalent to a Melosh rotation. We
also study how the similarity transformation affects spin-orbit interactions.Comment: 17 pages, latex fil
Initial bound state studies in light-front QCD
We present the first numerical QCD bound state calculation based on a
renormalization group-improved light-front Hamiltonian formalism. The QCD
Hamiltonian is determined to second order in the coupling, and it includes
two-body confining interactions. We make a momentum expansion, obtaining an
equal-time-like Schrodinger equation. This is solved for quark-antiquark
constituent states, and we obtain a set of self-consistent parameters by
fitting B meson spectra.Comment: 38 pages, latex, 5 latex figures include
Anchoring of Surface Proteins to the Cell Wall of Staphylococcus aureus. III. Lipid II is an in vivo peptidoglycan substrate for sortase-catalyzed surface protein anchoring
Surface proteins of Staphylococcus aureus are anchored to the cell wall peptidoglycan by a mechanism requiring a C-terminal sorting signal with an LPXTG motif. Surface proteins are first synthesized in the bacterial cytoplasm and then transported across the cytoplasmic membrane. Cleavage of the N-terminal signal peptide of the cytoplasmic surface protein P1 precursor generates the extracellular P2 species, which is the substrate for the cell wall anchoring reaction. Sortase, a membrane-anchored transpeptidase, cleaves P2 between the threonine (T) and the glycine (G) of the LPXTG motif and catalyzes the formation of an amide bond between the carboxyl group of threonine and the amino group of cell wall cross-bridges. We have used metabolic labeling of staphylococcal cultures with [32P]phosphoric acid to reveal a P3 intermediate. The 32P-label of immunoprecipitated surface protein is removed by treatment with lysostaphin, a glycyl-glycine endopeptidase that separates the cell wall anchor structure. Furthermore, the appearance of P3 is prevented in the absence of sortase or by the inhibition of cell wall synthesis. 32P-Labeled cell wall anchor species bind to nisin, an antibiotic that is known to form a complex with lipid II. Thus, it appears that the P3 intermediate represents surface protein linked to the lipid II peptidoglycan precursor. The data support a model whereby lipid II-linked polypeptides are incorporated into the growing peptidoglycan via the transpeptidation and transglycosylation reactions of cell wall synthesis, generating mature cell wall-linked surface protein
Analytic Treatment of Positronium Spin Splittings in Light-Front QED
We study the QED bound-state problem in a light-front hamiltonian approach.
Starting with a bare cutoff QED Hamiltonian, , with matrix elements
between free states of drastically different energies removed, we perform a
similarity transformation that removes the matrix elements between free states
with energy differences between the bare cutoff, , and effective
cutoff, \lam (\lam < \Lam). This generates effective interactions in the
renormalized Hamiltonian, . These effective interactions are derived
to order in this work, with . is renormalized
by requiring it to satisfy coupling coherence. A nonrelativistic limit of the
theory is taken, and the resulting Hamiltonian is studied using bound-state
perturbation theory (BSPT). The effective cutoff, \lam^2, is fixed, and the
limit, 0 \longleftarrow m^2 \alpha^2\ll \lam^2 \ll m^2 \alpha \longrightarrow
\infty, is taken. This upper bound on \lam^2 places the effects of
low-energy (energy transfer below \lam) emission in the effective
interactions in the sector. This lower bound on \lam^2
insures that the nonperturbative scale of interest is not removed by the
similarity transformation. As an explicit example of the general formalism
introduced, we show that the Hamiltonian renormalized to reproduces
the exact spectrum of spin splittings, with degeneracies dictated by rotational
symmetry, for the ground state through . The entire calculation is
performed analytically, and gives the well known singlet-triplet ground state
spin splitting of positronium, . We discuss remaining
corrections other than the spin splittings and how they can be treated in
calculating the spectrum with higher precision.Comment: 46 pages, latex, 3 Postscript figures included, section on remaining
corrections added, title changed, error in older version corrected, cutoff
placed in a windo
Will I? won't I? Why do men who have sex with men present for post-exposure prophylaxis for sexual exposures?
Background: Failures of post-exposure prophylaxis following sexual exposure (PEPSE) to prevent seroconversion have been reported and are often associated with ongoing risk exposure. Understanding why men who have sex with men (MSM) access PEPSE on some occasions and not others may lead to more effective health promotion and disease prevention strategies Methods: A qualitative study design using semi-structured interviews of 15 MSM within 6 months of them initiating PEPSE treatment at an HIV outpatient service in Brighton, UK. Results: PEPSE seeking was motivated by a number of factors: an episode that related to a particular sexual partner and their behaviour; the characteristics of the venue where the risk occurred; the respondentâs state of mind and influences of alcohol and recreational drug use; and their perceived beliefs on the effectiveness of PEPSE. Help was sought in the light of a âone-offâ or âunusualâ event. Many respondents felt they were less likely to behave in a risky manner following PEPSE. Conclusion: If PEPSE is to be effective as a public health measure, at risk individuals need to be empowered to make improved risk calculations from an increased perception that they could be exposed to HIV if they continue their current behaviour patterns. The concern is that PEPSE was sought by a low number of MSM implying that a greater number are not using the service based on failure to make accurate risk calculations or recognise high-risk scenario
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