Study of Λb→Λ(ϕ,η(′))\Lambda_b\to \Lambda (\phi,\eta^{(\prime)}) and Λb→ΛK+K−\Lambda_b\to \Lambda K^+K^- decays

We study the charmless two-body $\Lambda_b\to \Lambda (\phi,\eta^{(\prime)})$ and three-body $\Lambda_b\to \Lambda K^+K^-$ decays. We obtain ${\cal B}(\Lambda_b\to \Lambda\phi)=(3.53\pm 0.24)\times 10^{-6}$ to agree with the recent LHCb measurement. However, we find that ${\cal B}(\Lambda_b\to \Lambda(\phi\to)K^+ K^-)=(1.71\pm 0.12)\times 10^{-6}$ is unable to explain the LHCb observation of ${\cal B}(\Lambda_b\to\Lambda K^+ K^-)=(15.9\pm 1.2\pm 1.2\pm 2.0)\times 10^{-6}$, which implies the possibility for other contributions, such as that from the resonant $\Lambda_b\to K^- N^*,\,N^*\to\Lambda K^+$ decay with $N^*$ as a higher-wave baryon state. For $\Lambda_b\to \Lambda \eta^{(\prime)}$, we show that ${\cal B}(\Lambda_b\to \Lambda\eta,\,\Lambda\eta^\prime)= (1.47\pm 0.35,1.83\pm 0.58)\times 10^{-6}$, which are consistent with the current data of $(9.3^{+7.3}_{-5.3},<3.1)\times 10^{-6}$, respectively. Our results also support the relation of ${\cal B}(\Lambda_b\to \Lambda\eta) \simeq {\cal B}(\Lambda_b\to\Lambda\eta^\prime)$, given by the previous study.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure, revised version accepted by EPJ

Exploring Deep Space: Learning Personalized Ranking in a Semantic Space

Recommender systems leverage both content and user interactions to generate recommendations that fit users' preferences. The recent surge of interest in deep learning presents new opportunities for exploiting these two sources of information. To recommend items we propose to first learn a user-independent high-dimensional semantic space in which items are positioned according to their substitutability, and then learn a user-specific transformation function to transform this space into a ranking according to the user's past preferences. An advantage of the proposed architecture is that it can be used to effectively recommend items using either content that describes the items or user-item ratings. We show that this approach significantly outperforms state-of-the-art recommender systems on the MovieLens 1M dataset.Comment: 6 pages, RecSys 2016 RSDL worksho

Differential expression of early viral gene BmORF51 in Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus infection of resistant and susceptible silkworms

Open reading frame 51 of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (Bm51) is a homologue of autographa californica multiple NPV ORF63. In this study, the expression profiles of Bm51 in the resistant strain NB and the susceptible strain 306 were characterized, and Bm51 gene was amplified from BmNPV genomic DNA by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and cloned into Escherichia coli expression vector pET-30a (+). The recombinant His-tagged Bm51 protein was expressed in E. coli BL21 (DE3) and purified by metal chelating affinity chromatography to produce antibodies against Bm51 protein. The amino acid sequence of recombinant protein was confirmed by mass spectroscopic analysis. The transcription and protein product of early viral gene, Bm51, was detected at 6 h post-infection (p.i.) in resistant strain NB by quantitative real-time (qRT)-PCR and western blotting, and the expression of Bm51 in NB reached the maximal level at 36 h p.i. in NB, and then gradually decreased to undetectable level at 72 h p.i. In contrast, the Bm51 protein was undetectable until 12 h p.i. in susceptible strain 306 and the expression of Bm51 progressively increased during the 72 h post-infection

Topologically protected one-dimensional electronic states in group IV two-dimensional Dirac materials

In this report we give a brief introduction on the occurrence of topologically protected one-dimensional electronic states in group IV two-dimensional graphene-like materials. We discuss the effect of spin-orbit coupling on the electronic band structure and show that these materials are potential candidates to exhibit the quantum spin Hall effect. The quantum spin Hall effect is characterized by a gapped interior and metallic counter-propagating spin-polarized topologically protected edges states. We also elaborate on the electric-field induced formation of a hexagonal network of one-dimensional topologically protected electronic states in small-angle twisted bilayer graphene.Comment: These are lecture notes meant for undergraduate and graduate physics students. This manuscript will not be submitted for publication. Pages: 21. Figures: 1

Parametric Experimental Study of Ultra-Short Stud Connections for Lightweight Steel–UHPC Composite Bridges

This paper reports on double shear push-out tests conducted on steel-to-ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) connections based on studs of 30- or 22-mm diameter in slabs of 35, 55, or 150 mm thickness. The results show that with an increase in stud diameter, the longitudinal shear strength has improved by 25% and 94% for ultra-short and long studs (of aspect ratios below and equal to 4.0), respectively. For short studs, both the aspect ratio and concrete cover greatly influenced failure by partial stud fracture or UHPC pryout, while the diameter governed failure behavior for long studs. Decreases in aspect ratio and cover thickness caused shear resistance to drop by 40% and 7%, respectively, for 30- and 22-mm diameter studs. Regression analyses show that the shear strength, slip stiffness, and ductility of the connections are exponential, sinusoidal, and polynomial functions, respectively, of the stud aspect ratio. The ultra-short stud–UHPC connections are 62% stiffer in slip than their normal concrete counterparts. Future work should entail fatigue testing of the connections

XMM-Newton Spectra of Intermediate-Mass Black Hole Candidates: Application of a Monte-Carlo Simulated Model

We present a systematic spectral analysis of six ultraluminous X-ray sources (NGC1313 X-1/X-2, IC342 X-1, HoIX X-1, NGC5408 X-1 and NGC3628 X-1) observed with XMM-Newton Observatory. These extra-nuclear X-ray sources in nearby late-type galaxies have been considered as intermediate-mass black hole candidates. We have performed Monte-Carlo simulations of Comptonized multi-color black-body accretion disks. This unified and self-consistent spectral model assumes a spherically symmetric, thermal corona around each disk and accounts for the radiation transfer in the Comptonization. We find that the model provides satisfactory fits to the XMM-Newton spectra of thesources. The characteristic temperatures of the accretion disks (T_in), for example, are in the range of ~ 0.05-0.3 keV, consistent with the intermediate-mass black hole interpretation. We find that the black hole mass is typically about a few times 10^3 M_\odot and has an accretion rate ~ 10^{-6} - 10^{-5} M_\odot yr^{-1}. For the spectra considered here, we find that the commonly used multi-color black-body accretion disk model with an additive power law component, though not physical, provides a good mathematical approximation to the Monte-Carlo simulated model. However, the latter model provides additional constraints on the properties of the accretion systems, such as the disk inclination angles and corona optical depths.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figures, 5 tables. ApJ accepted, July 2004 issu

X-ray and UV spectroscopy of Galactic diffuse hot gas along the LMC X--3 sight line

We present Suzaku spectra of X-ray emission in the fields just off the LMC X-3 sight line. OVII, OVIII, and NeIX emission lines are clearly detected, suggesting the presence of an optically thin thermal plasma with an average temperature of 2.4E6. This temperature is significantly higher than that inferred from existing X-ray absorption line data obtained with Chandra grating observations of LMC X-3, strongly suggesting that the gas is not isothermal. We then jointly analyze these data to characterize the spatial and temperature distributions of the gas. Assuming a vertical exponential Galactic disk model, we estimate the gas temperature and density at the Galactic plane and their scale heights as 3.6(2.9, 4.7)E6 K and 1.4(0.3, 3.4)E-3 cm^{-3} and 1.4(0.2, 5.2) kpc and $2.8(1.0, 6.4)$ kpc, respectively. This characterization can account for all the \ovi line absorption, as observed in a FUSE spectrum of LMC X-3, but only predicts less than one tenth of the OVI line emission intensity typically detected at high Galactic latitudes. The bulk of the OVI emission most likely arises at interfaces between cool and hot gases.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in ApJ, 200

Direct CP and T Violation in Baryonic B Decays

We review the direct CP and T violation in the three-body baryonic B decays in the standard model. In particular, we emphasize that the direct CP violating asymmetry in $B^\pm\to p\bar p K^{*\pm}$ is around 22% and the direct $T$ violating asymmetry in \bar B^0 \ra \Lambda \bar p \pi^+ can be as large as 12%, which are accessible to the current B factories at KEK and SLAC as well as SuperB and LHCb.Comment: 6 pages, Talk given at 4th International Conference on Flavor Physics (ICFP 2007), Beijing, China, 24-28 Sep 200