Semi-leptonic Ds+D_s^+(1968) decays as a scalar meson probe

The unusual multiplet structures associated with the light spin zero mesons have recently attracted a good deal of theoretical attention. Here we discuss some aspects associated with the possibility of getting new experimental information on this topic from semi-leptonic decays of heavy charged mesons into an isosinglet scalar or pseudoscalar plus leptons.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Doubly perturbed S3S_3 neutrinos and the s13s_{13} mixing parameter

We further study a predictive model for the masses and mixing matrix of three Majorana neutrinos. At zeroth order the model yielded degenerate neutrinos and a generalized ``tribimaximal" mixing matrix. At first order the mass splitting was incorporated and the tribimaximal mixing matrix emerged with very small corrections but with a zero value for the parameter $s_{13}$. In the present paper a different, assumed weaker, perturbation is included which gives a non zero value for $s_{13}$ and further corrections to other quantities. These corrections are worked out and their consequences discussed under the simplifying assumption that the conventional CP violation phase vanishes. It is shown that the existing measurements of the parameter $s_{23}$ provide strong bounds on $s_{13}$ in this model.Comment: 8 page

Inferring destination from mobility data

Destination prediction in a moving vehicle has several applications such as alternative route recommendations even in cases where the driver has not entered their destination into the system. In this paper a hierarchical approach to destination prediction is presented. A Discrete Time Markov Chain model is used to make an initial prediction of a general region the vehicle might be travelling to. Following that a more complex Bayesian Inference Model is used to make a fine grained prediction within that destination region. The model is tested on a dataset of 442 taxis operating in Porto, Portugal. Experiments are run on two maps. One is a smaller map concentrating specificially on trips within the Porto city centre and surrounding areas. The second map covers a much larger area going as far as Lisbon. We achieve predictions for Porto with average distance error of less than 0.6 km from early on in the trip and less than 1.6 km dropping to less than 1 km for the wider area

False Sensitivities in Cortisol Immunosensors Fabricated on Gold-Screen-Printed Electrodes

Cortisol electrochemical sensors are extensively studied since the ability to measure cortisol in real-time would provide information about abnormalities in cortisol levels and how they may affect a variety of processes in which cortisol is involved in the body. The main base layer material and redox mediator utilized in cortisol immunosensors in the literature are gold and ferri/ferrocyanide, respectively. However, this electrolyte-electrode combination is known to cause false positive or negative results, limiting the accuracy of measurements. In this work, three ways through which this electrolyteelectrode system can cause false sensitivities are experimentally demonstrated. The results show that the adsorption of chloride ions and ferri/ferrocyanide redox probe to the surface can alone be responsible for up to 40% of normalized change in sensor output. The ferri/ferrocyanide redox couple can also cause faulty readings by interfering with the sensor structure and etching the gold electrode surface

Electrical transport and optical studies of ferromagnetic Cobalt doped ZnO nanoparticles exhibiting a metal-insulator transition

The observed correlation of oxygen vacancies and room temperature ferromagnetic ordering in Co doped ZnO1-o nanoparticles reported earlier (Naeem et al Nanotechnology 17, 2675-2680) has been further explored by transport and optical measurements. In these particles room temperature ferromagnetic ordering had been observed to occur only after annealing in forming gas. In the current work the optical properties have been studied by diffuse reflection spectroscopy in the UV-Vis region and the band gap of the Co doped compositions has been found to decrease with Co addition. Reflections minima are observed at the energies characteristic of Co+2 d-d (tethrahedral symmetry) crystal field transitions, further establishing the presence of Co in substitutional sites. Electrical transport measurements on palletized samples of the nanoparticles show that the effect of a forming gas is to strongly decrease the resistivity with increasing Co concentration. For the air annealed and non-ferromagnetic samples the variation in the resistivity as a function of Co content are opposite to those observed in the particles prepared in forming gas. The ferromagnetic samples exhibit an apparent change from insulator to metal with increasing temperatures for T>380K and this change becomes more pronounced with increasing Co content. The magnetic and resistive behaviors are correlated by considering the model by Calderon et al [M. J. Calderon and S. D. Sarma, Annals of Physics 2007 (Accepted doi: 10.1016/j.aop.2007.01.010] where the ferromagnetism changes from being mediated by polarons in the low temperature insulating region to being mediated by the carriers released from the weakly bound states in the higher temperature metallic region.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Acute-on-chronic Liver Failure: MELD Score 30-day Mortality Predictability and Etiology in a Pakistani Population

Background: Cirrhosis is a pathological condition that ultimately leads to liver failure. Acute on chronic liver failure (ACLF) has a high short term mortality rate. Viral hepatitis is the most common cause of liver failure in our local population. We carried out this study to identity the 30-day mortality and etiology of patients presenting with ACLF using Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score predictability. Methodology: This was a descriptive case series, conducted at Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan from January 31, 2018 to July 30, 2018. One hundred and eighty five patients who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled using 95% confidence level and 4% margin of error. Data was entered and analyzed with SPSS version 23.0. Numerical variables including age was presented by Mean ± S.D. Categorical variables i.e. gender, etiology of acute-on-chronic liver failure and 30-day mortality were presented by frequency and percentage. Data was stratified for age, gender, duration of chronic liver disease and MELD grade to address the effect modifiers. Post-stratification chi-square test was calculated using 95% significance (p≤0.05). Results: Majority of the enrolled patients were male (74.6%) while only 25.4% of the patients were female. One hundred and thirty patients (70.3%) had underlying viral hepatitis while twelve patients (6.5%) and forty three patients (23.2%) presented with alcoholic liver disease and drug-induced ACLF, respectively. Eighty patients (43.2%) died within 30 days of admission.The 30-day mortality with respect to MELD grade was statistically significant (p<0.001) with the highest mortality noted in grade-IV and thirty five patients (43.8%) dying within 30 days of admission (p<0.001). Grade-II and III MELD scores also contributed to the 30-day mortality with twenty three patients (28.8%) and nineteen patients (23.8%) dying within 30 days of admission (p<0.001). Conclusion: MELD scores are able to accurately predict the short-term mortality in patients with ACLF and viral hepatitis was the most common etiology in our population. Early detection and use of appropriate prognostic models may alleviate mortality and morbidity in paitents with ACLF

Maximizing the economic benefits of a grid-tied microgrid using solar-wind complementarity

The increasing use of intermittent, renewable energy sources (RESs) for electricity generation in microgrids (MGs) requires efficient strategies for reliable and economic operation. Complementarity between RESs provides good prospects for integrating several local energy sources and reducing the costs of MG setup and operations. This paper presents a framework for maximizing the economic benefits of a grid-tied MG by exploiting the spatial and temporal complementarity between solar and wind energies (solar-wind complementarity). The proposed framework considers the cost of energy production from different RESs and the cost of bi-directional energy exchange with the main grid. For a given RES mix, a minimum system power loss (SPL) threshold can also be determined. However, at this SPL threshold, MG energy exchange cost is not always minimized. The framework determines the optimized SPL value (above the threshold) at which MG energy exchange cost gets minimized. Through this framework, MG operator can decide appropriate RES mix and can achieve various tradeoffs according to the energy production cost, solar-wind complementarity of the site and its required economic objectives

The Effect of Fish Size and Condition on the Contents of Twelve Essential and Non Essential Elements in Aristichthys nobilis

The correlation coefficients between fish size (body weight and total length) and metal contents (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cr, Co, Cd and Pb) in whole fish (Aristichthys nobilis) were determined. A total of 71 fish samples were collected from hatcheries and fish reservoirs located in Islamabad and Fatehjung. Highly significant (P<0.001) relationship between metal concentrations and fish size was found. Most of the metals (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Cr, Cd and Pb) showed an isometric increase, while Mn, Fe and Co showed an allometric increase in with increasing body weight. All metals showed isometric increase, while, Na, Mn, Fe, Cu, and Co showed positive allometric growth in relation to total length. The correlation coefficient (r) between different variables and wet body weight, condition factor was found highly significant (P<0.001) in examined fish except for Na, Ca, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb while for total length the same results found except Ca, Cd, Zn and Pb. Variance inflation factor values of regression coefficients in multiple regression analysis for each variable were lesser than 10. The metal levels of the examined fish were lower than the recommended values in fish and fishery products set by FAO

Gauged linear sigma model and pion-pion scattering

A simple gauged linear sigma model with several parameters to take the symmetry breaking and the mass differences between the vector meson and the axial vector meson into account is considered here as a possibly useful template for the role of a light scalar in QCD as well as for (at a different scale) an effective Higgs sector for some recently proposed walking technicolor models. An analytic procedure is first developed for relating the Lagrangian parameters to four well established (in the QCD application) experimental inputs. One simple equation distinguishes three different cases:1. QCD with axial vector particle heavier than vector particle, 2. possible technicolor model with vector particle heavier than the axial vector one, 3. the unphysical QCD case where both the KSRF and Weinberg relations hold. The model is applied to the s-wave pion-pion scattering in QCD. Both the near threshold region and (with an assumed unitarization) theglobal region up to about 800 MeV are considered. It is noted that there is a little tension between the choice of bare sigma mass parameter for describing these two regions. If a reasonable globa fit is made, there is some loss of precision in the near threshold region.Comment: 19 pages, 9 figure

Mutations in phosphodiesterase 6 identified in familial cases of retinitis pigmentosa.

To delineate the genetic determinants associated with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a hereditary retinal disorder, we recruited four large families manifesting cardinal symptoms of RP. We localized these families to regions on the human genome harboring the α and β subunits of phosphodiesterase 6 and identified mutations that were absent in control chromosomes. Our data suggest that mutations in PDE6A and PDE6B are responsible for the retinal phenotype in these families