Composition of nuclear matter with light clusters and Bose-Einstein condensation of α\alpha particles

The Bose-Einstein condensation of $\alpha$ partciles in the multicomponent environment of dilute, warm nuclear matter is studied. We consider the cases of matter composed of light clusters with mass numbers $A\leq 4$ and matter that in addition these clusters contains \isotope[56]{Fe} nuclei. We apply the quasiparticle gas model which treats clusters as bound states with infinite life-time and binding energies independent of temperature and density. We show that the $\alpha$ particles can form a condensate at low temperature $T\le 2$ MeV in such matter in the first case. When the \isotope[56]{Fe} nucleus is added to the composition the cluster abundances are strongly modified at low temperatures, with an important implication that the $\alpha$ condensation at these temperatures is suppressed.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure

Protective effect of rhamnopyranosyl vanilloyl isolated from Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl (Scrophulariaceae) root against acute liver injury in mice

Purpose: To investigate the protective effect of rhamnopyranosyl vanilloyl (RV) from Scrophularia ningpoensis root against tetrachloromethane (CCl4)-induced acute liver injury (ALI) in mice.Methods: RV was isolated from S. ningpoensis by column chromatography. ALI  model of mice was established by intraperitoneal injection of CCl4. Liver index, liver function indices, as well as serum alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate  aminotransferase (AST) and total bilirubin (TBIL) were evaluated. Lipid peroxidation (LPO)-related indices, including malonaldehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). Apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2, Bax and caspase-3) in liver tissue were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot.Results: After treatment with RV (10, 20 or 40 mg/kg), liver index (5.65 - 5.21 vs. 6.68 %), ALT (90.18 - 79.68 vs. 112.47 U/L), AST (64.44 - 57.63 vs. 75.41 U/L) and TBIL (2.68 - 1.95 vs. 3.21 U/L) activities, as well as MDA (3.58 - 2.88 vs. 4.13 μmol/g), Bax and caspase-3 levels significantly (p < 0.05 or 0.01) decreased, compared with those in control group. After treatment with RV (10, 20 or 40 mg/kg), GSH (16.58 - 22.14 vs. 12.34 μmol/g), Bcl-2, SOD (86.45 - 107.61 vs. 68.43 U/mg) and GSH-Px (295.64 - 329.47 vs. 268.49 U/mg) levels or activities  significantly (p < 0.05 or 0.01) increased, compared with those in control group.Conclusion: RV has protective effect against CCl4-induced ALI in mice, and the mechanisms involve the inhibition of LPO and apoptosis in liver cells. Thus, RV is a potential drug for the treatment of liver injuryKeywords: Rhamnopyranosyl vanilloyl, Scrophularia ningpoensis, Liver injury,  Protective effect, Lipid peroxidation, Apoptosi

Chiral phase modulation and tunable broadband perfect absorber using the coherent cold atomic ensemble

We investigate the two-channel nonreciprocal scattering of a coherent atomic ensemble under the linear spatial Kramers-Kronig modulation, which has potential applications in chiral phase modulation and broadband coherent perfect/asymmetric absorber that yet is typically unavailable in conventional continuous atomic media. In the regime of electromagnetically induced transparency, we observe the direction-dependent (chiral) phase modulation, which may enrich the burgeoning chiral quantum optics and can be used for implementing photonic filters, unidirectional amplifiers, and coherent asymmetric absorbers. By simplifying the stringent generation condition of coherent perfect absorption (CPA), we demonstrate the possibility of realizing two-channel CPA with broadband and sharp edges. Our proposal may be used to design and integrate some all-optical functional devices at extremely low power levels for quantum information processing and optical communication networks

Precision test of the weak interaction with slow muons

We propose to use slow muons facilities combined with cyclotron radiation detection for precision test of the weak interaction in the muon decays. Slow positive muon bunches are first injected into a cylindrical superconducting vacuum chamber with uniform strong axial magnetic fields to radially confine the muons. The positrons resulting from muon decays can be detected by their cyclotron radiation, which can be transported to low-noise electronic devices through waveguides coupled to the chamber. The decay positron's energy can be precisely measured down to eV level in the low energy region, which is sensitive to new physics effects such as Majorana neutrinos and new structures of weak interactions