Using NMR to Measure Fractal Dimensions

A comment is made on the recent PFG NMR measurements by Stallmach, et al. on water-saturated sands [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 105505 (2002)]. It is pointed out that the usual law for the time-dependent diffusion coefficient D(t) used by these authors is not valid for a fractal surface. It is shown that (1-D(t)/D0) \~ t^[(3-Ds)/2] at short times for a surface of fractal dimension Ds, where D0 is the bulk diffusion coefficient. Preliminary PFG NMR data on water saturated limestone and plastic beads are presented to illustrate this analysis.Comment: 1 page, 1 figur

Momentum Kick Model Description of the Ridge in (Delta-phi)-(Delta eta) Correlation in pp Collisions at 7 TeV

The near-side ridge structure in the (Delta phi)-(Delta eta) correlation observed by the CMS Collaboration for pp collisions at 7 TeV at LHC can be explained by the momentum kick model in which the ridge particles are medium partons that suffer a collision with the jet and acquire a momentum kick along the jet direction. Similar to the early medium parton momentum distribution obtained in previous analysis for nucleus-nucleus collisions at 0.2 TeV, the early medium parton momentum distribution in pp collisions at 7 TeV exhibits a rapidity plateau as arising from particle production in a flux tube.Comment: Talk presented at Workshop on High-pT Probes of High-Density QCD at the LHC, Palaiseau, May 30-June2, 201

Pulsed excimer laser processing

The status of pulsed excimer laser processing of PV cells is presented. The cost effective feasibility of fabricating high efficiency solar cells on Czochralski wafers using a pulsed excimer laser for junction formation, surface passivation, and front metallization. Laser annealing results were promising with the best AR coated cell having an efficiency of 16.1%. Better results would be expected with larger laser spot size because there was some degradation in open circuit voltage caused by laser spot overlap and edge effects. Surface heating and photolytic decomposition by the laser was used to deposit tungsten from the reaction of tungsten hexafluoride and hydrogen. The line widths were 5 to 10 mils, and the depositions passed the tape adhesion test. Thinner lines are practical using an optimized optical system

Analysis of pion elliptic flows and HBT interferometry in a granular quark-gluon plasma droplet model

In many simulations of high-energy heavy-ion collisions on an event-by-event analysis, it is known that the initial energy density distribution in the transverse plane is highly fluctuating. Subsequent longitudinal expansion will lead to many longitudinal tubes of quark-gluon plasma which have tendencies to break up into many spherical droplets because of sausage instabilities. We are therefore motivated to use a model of quark-gluon plasma granular droplets that evolve hydrodynamically to investigate pion elliptic flows and Hanbury-Brown-Twiss interferometry. We find that the data of pion transverse momentum spectra, elliptic flows, and HBT radii in \sqrt{s_{NN}}=200 GeV Au + Au collisions at RHIC can be described well by an expanding source of granular droplets with an anisotropic velocity distribution.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, in Late

Currency Traders and Exchange Rate Dynamics: A Survey of the U.S. Market

We report findings from a survey of United States foreign exchange traders. Our results indicate that: (i) in recent years electronically-brokered transactions have risen substantially, mostly at the expense of traditional brokers; (ii) the market norm is an important det e rminant of interbank bid-ask spread and the most widely-cited reason for deviating from the conventional bid-ask spread is a thin/hectic market; (iii) half or more of market respondents believe that large players dominate in the dollar-pound and dollar-Swiss franc markets; (iv) technical trading best characterizes about 30% of traders, with this proportion rising from five years ago; (v) news about macroeconomic variables is rapidly incorporated into exchange rates; (vi) the importance of individual macroe c onomic variables shifts over time, although interest rates always appear to be important; (vii) economic fundamentals are perceived to be more important at longer horizons, while short-run deviations from the fundamentals are attributed to excess speculation and institutional customer/hedge fund manipulation; (viii) speculation is generally viewed positively, as enhancing market efficiency and liquidity, even though it exacerbates volatility; (ix) central bank intervention does not appear to have substantial effect, although there is general agreement that it increases volatility, and finally; (x) traders do not view purchasing power parity as a useful concept, even though a significant proportion (40%) believe that it affects exchange rates at horizons of over six months.

Myocardial fibrosis in stroke survivors

Stroke survivors are most likely to die of cardiac death, yet few undergo comprehensive cardiac assessment to look for reversible causes. Myocardial fibrosis (MF) is not only the hallmark of cardiomyopathy, but also a substrate for sudden cardiac death, ventricular tachyarrhythmia and heart failure. Procollagen carboxyl-terminal telopeptide (PICP) was found to be a marker of MF. The relationship between PICP and cardiac abnormalities in stroke survivors is unknown. We recently showed that MF in stroke survivors can be treated by spironolactone and amiloride in a randomised placebo-controlled cross-over study with reduction in PICP levels and QTc [1]

Effect of trichlorofluoromethane and molecular chlorine on ozone formation by simulated solar radiation

Mixtures of air with either Cl2 or CFCl3 were photolyzed in a reaction chamber by simulated solar radiation. Ozone formation was temporarily inhibited by Cl2 and permanently inhibited by CFCl3. A chemical mechanism including gas phase and wall reactions is proposed to explain these results. The CFCl3 is assumed to be adsorbed on the chamber walls and to poison the sites for Cl destruction