The New Narrow "D_s" States -- A Minireview

The experimental status concerning the two new narrow states with charm-strange content is reviewed. The states have masses of 2317 and 2460 MeV, widths less than 10 MeV, isospin consistent with zero, and spin-parities consistent with being 0^+ and 1^+, respectively. Although the masses are lower than the conventional expectation, these states appear to be the j=1/2 P-wave levels of the D_s system, where j is the light quark angular momentum; there may be mixing with the j=3/2 level for the 1^+ state.Comment: 4 pages, 10 figures LaTeX; To appear in Proceedings of the International Europhysics Conference on High Energy Physics, July 17-23, 2003, Aachen. A (long file) version with some clearer figures may be found at: http://www.hep.caltech.edu/~fcp/papers/eps03.pdf This version updates version 1 with a correction to labelling of Fig. 8 (Thanks to U.Karshon for noticing this

Experimental Status of the CKM Matrix

The CKM matrix, VV, relates the quark mass and flavor bases. In the standard model, VV is unitary 3×3, and specified by four arbitrary parameters, including a phase allowing for CPCP violation. We review the experimental determination of VV, including the four parameters in the standard model context. This is an active field; the precision of experimental measurements and theoretical inputs continues to improve. The consistency of the determination with the standard model unitarity is investigated. While there remain some issues the overall agreement with standard model unitarity is good

Missouri fencing laws

Cover title.Includes bibliographical references

Hadron production in e^+e^- annihilation at BABAR, and implication for the muon anomalous magnetic moment

The BABAR collaboration has an extensive program of studying hadronic cross sections in low-energy e^+e^- collisions, accessible via initial-state radiation. Our measurements allow significant improvements in the precision of the predicted value of the muon anomalous magnetic moment. These improvements are necessary for illuminating the current 3.6 sigma difference between the predicted and the experimental values. We have published results on a number of processes with two to six hadrons in the final state. We report here the results of recent studies with final states that constitute the main contribution to the hadronic cross section in the energy region between 1 and 3 GeV, as e^+e^- → K^+K^-, π^+π^-, and e^+e^- → 4 hadrons

Experimental Status of the CKM Matrix

The CKM matrix, VV, relates the quark mass and flavor bases. In the standard model, VV is unitary 3×3, and specified by four arbitrary parameters, including a phase allowing for CPCP violation. We review the experimental determination of VV, including the four parameters in the standard model context. This is an active field; the precision of experimental measurements and theoretical inputs continues to improve. The consistency of the determination with the standard model unitarity is investigated. While there remain some issues the overall agreement with standard model unitarity is good

Spatial Contours of Potential Biomass Crop Production: An Examination of Variations by U.S. Region

The recent and projected status of energy production and consumption in the United States, resulting in substantial dependencies upon foreign oil, has continued to provide pressure on domestic energy security. All told, bio-energy systems, and biomass crop production in particular, will be important elements of national security, economic vitality, and public policy. Using biomass crop estimates based upon models developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Department of Energy (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory, we identify potential biomass crop production zones using spatial analysis methods. The Midwest and the South are, by far, the largest regions of potential production. Once potential biomass crop yield is made proportional to estimated land and production costs, the South’s optimal crop zones fall along the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Seaboard, whereas in the Midwest, they are largely in non-metropolitan localities. The implications of these spatial contours for energy policy for alternative biomass crop production are discussed

Story in health and social care

This paper offers a brief consideration of how narrative, in the form of people‟s own stories, potentially figures in health and social care provision as part of the impulse towards patient-centred care. The rise of the epistemological legitimacy of patients‟ stories is sketched here. The paper draws upon relevant literature and original writing to consider the ways in which stories can mislead as well as illuminate the process of making individual treatment care plans

Manageable creativity

This article notes a perception in mainstream management theory and practice that creativity has shifted from being disruptive or destructive to 'manageable'. This concept of manageable creativity in business is reflected in a similar rhetoric in cultural policy, especially towards the creative industries. The article argues that the idea of 'manageable creativity' can be traced back to a 'heroic' and a 'structural' model of creativity. It is argued that the 'heroic' model of creativity is being subsumed within a 'structural' model which emphasises the systems and infrastructure around individual creativity rather than focusing on raw talent and pure content. Yet this structured approach carries problems of its own, in particular a tendency to overlook the unpredictability of creative processes, people and products. Ironically, it may be that some confusion in our policies towards creativity is inevitable, reflecting the paradoxes and transitions which characterise the creative process