Forward Production of Protons and Pions in Heavy-ion Collisions

The problem of forward production of hadrons in heavy-ion collision at RHIC is revisited with modification of the theoretical treatment on the one hand and with the use of new data on the other. The basic formalism for hadronization remains the same as before, namely, recombination, but the details of momentum degradation and quark regeneration are improved. Recent data on the p/pi and pbar/p ratios are used to constrain the value of the degradation parameter. The p_T spectrum of the average charged particles is well reproduced. A prediction on the p_T dependence of the pbar/p ratio at eta=3.2 is made.Comment: 17 pages in LaTeX including 5 figures in ep

A note on the realignment criterion

For a quantum state in a bipartite system represented as a density matrix, researchers used the realignment matrix and functions on its singular values to study the separability of the quantum state. We obtain bounds for elementary symmetric functions of singular values of realignment matrices. This answers some open problems proposed by Lupo, Aniello, and Scardicchio. As a consequence, we show that the proposed scheme by these authors for testing separability would not work if the two subsystems of the bipartite system have the same dimension.Comment: 11 pages, to appear in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretica

Preparation and characterisation of manganese and iron compounds as potential control-release foliar fertilisers

Nanoscale crystals containing manganese and iron as potential foliar fertilizers have been further investigated with the experience accumulated from previous research on potential zinc foliar fertilizer. Compared to Zn(II), Mn(II) and Fe(II) are easily oxidisable in ambient environment, adding stricter criteria to compound selection to prevent oxidation. Adoption of phosphate buffer saline system and chelate have been proposed as the solution and extensively assessed in this paper. After quick co-precipitation, as-prepared crystals were characterised via XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, elemental analysis, and AAS to confirm the compositions and two-dimensional nanoscale morphology and assess the nutrient ion release and aqueous stability. In particular, the available Mn concentration in manganese ammonium phosphate and manganese oxalate suspensions was similar to 10 and similar to 110 mg/L, respectively. In comparison, ferrous ammonium phosphate and ferrous oxalate suspensions contained similar to 10 and similar to 30 mg/L of iron ions, respectively. Therefore, these suspensions can all be used as long-term foliar fertilizers for the correction of Mn and Fe deficiency in plants

A Class of Bound Entangled States

We construct a set of PPT (positive partial transpose) states and show that these PPT states are not separable, thus present a class of bound entangled quantum states.Comment: 7 page

Drug-related stigma and access to care among people who inject drugs in Vietnam.

Introduction and aimsThere are considerable challenges faced by people with a history of injecting drug use (PWID) in Vietnam, including drug-related stigma and lack of access to healthcare. Seeking and utilising healthcare, as well as harm reduction programs for PWID, are often hampered by drug-related stigma. This study aimed to examine the impacts of drug-related stigma on access to care and utilisation of harm reduction programs among PWID in Vietnam.Design and methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in two provinces in Vietnam, Phú Thọ and Vinh Phúc. The study participants completed the survey by using Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview between late 2014 and early 2015. Linear multiple regression models and logistic regression models were used to assess the relationship among drug-related stigma, access to care and utilisation of harm reduction programs, including methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and needle exchange programs (NEP).ResultsA total of 900 PWID participated in this study. Drug-related stigma was significantly associated with lower level of access to care, but not with utilisation of MMT or NEP. Older age was positively associated with higher levels of access to care. Levels of education were positively correlated with access to care, as well as utilisation of MMT and NEP.Discussion and conclusionsThis study underscores the need for future interventions to reduce drug-related stigma in society and in health-care settings to improve PWID's utilisation of care services. Special attention should be paid to younger PWID and those with lower levels of education

Total synthesis of rhizopodin.

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Dalby, S.M, Goodwin-Tindall, J., Paterson, I. (2013), Total Synthesis of (−)-Rhizopodin. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/‎10.1002/anie.201301978. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving http://olabout.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-815640.htmlCore assembly: The total synthesis of the myxobacterial metabolite rhizopodin, a potent actin-binding anticancer agent, has been achieved. The modular synthesis utilizes a common C1–C22 monomeric unit to assemble the dimeric 38-membered macrodiolide core, which was elaborated by a bidirectional boron-mediated aldol reaction to install the characteristic side-chains. The final global deprotection was critically dependent on the correct choice of silyl protecting groups at C16/C16′.This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

Computations of Disturbance Amplification Behind Isolated Roughness Elements and Comparison with Measurements

Computations are performed to study laminar-turbulent transition due to isolated roughness elements in boundary layers at Mach 3.5 and 5.95, with an emphasis on flow configurations for which experimental measurements from low disturbance wind tunnels are available. The Mach 3.5 case corresponds to a roughness element with right-triangle planform with hypotenuse that is inclined at 45 degrees with respect to the oncoming stream, presenting an obstacle with spanwise asymmetry. The Mach 5.95 case corresponds to a circular roughness element along the nozzle wall of the Purdue BAMQT wind tunnel facility. In both cases, the mean flow distortion due to the roughness element is characterized by long-lived streamwise streaks in the roughness wake, which can support instability modes that did not exist in the absence of the roughness element. The linear amplification characteristics of the wake flow are examined towards the eventual goal of developing linear growth correlations for the onset of transition