The X(3872) at the Tevatron

I report results on the X(3872) from the Tevatron. Mass and other properties have been studied, with a focus on new results on the dipion mass spectrum in X -> J/PsiPi^+Pi^- decays. Dipions favor interpreting the decay as J/PsiRho, implying even C-parity for the X. Modeling uncertainties do not allow distinguishing between S- and P-wave decays of the J/PsiRho mode. Effects of Rho-Omega interference in X decay are also introduced.Comment: Contribution to PANIC05, Santa Fe, 24-28 October 2005 (4 pages, 6 plots

An electrooptical muscle contraction sensor

An electrooptical sensor for the detection of muscle contraction is described. Infrared light is injected into the muscle, the backscattering is observed, and the contraction is detected by measuring the change, that occurs during muscle contraction, between the light scattered in the direction parallel and perpendicular to the muscle cells. With respect to electromyography and to optical absorption-based sensors, our device has the advantage of lower invasiveness, of lower sensitivity to electromagnetic noise and to movement artifacts, and of being able to distinguish between isometric and isotonic contractions

Loyalty in World Politics

Loyalty is part of the glue that holds relationships together in times of difficulty. Surprisingly, however, hardly any literature exists on the role of loyalty in international relations. The concept is routinely invoked – not least the notion of the ‘loyal ally’ - but typically only in passing and often based on questionable assumptions about the nature and effect of loyalty. Building on literature in moral philosophy on the ethics of loyalty, this paper presents loyalty as persistently partial behaviour driven by affective attachments. Such attachments are, in turn, driven mainly by a sense of shared social identity but also the interaction between subjects and objects of loyalty. I show how this understanding of loyalty differs from how most political scientists use the concept and illustrate why it matters for the study of world politics

Inflationary Constraints on Type IIA String Theory

We prove that inflation is forbidden in the most well understood class of semi-realistic type IIA string compactifications: Calabi-Yau compactifications with only standard NS-NS 3-form flux, R-R fluxes, D6-branes and O6-planes at large volume and small string coupling. With these ingredients, the first slow-roll parameter satisfies epsilon >= 27/13 whenever V > 0, ruling out both inflation (including brane/anti-brane inflation) and de Sitter vacua in this limit. Our proof is based on the dependence of the 4-dimensional potential on the volume and dilaton moduli in the presence of fluxes and branes. We also describe broader classes of IIA models which may include cosmologies with inflation and de Sitter vacua. The inclusion of extra ingredients, such as NS 5-branes and geometric or non-geometric NS-NS fluxes, evades the assumptions used in deriving the no-go theorem. We focus on NS 5-branes and outline how such ingredients may prove fruitful for cosmology, but we do not provide an explicit model. We contrast the results of our IIA analysis with the rather different situation in IIB

Molecular docking studies of Chenopodium album Linn with Lanosterol synthase enzyme

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the major cause of death among people across the globe.  Hypercholesterolemia is one of the major contributing factors for CVD. Molecules that bind with Lanosterol synthase enzyme, can be potential drug targets.  Statin group of compounds like Simvastatin, cerivastatin, Atorvastatin etc., used for treating hypercholesterolemia have side effects and hence there is a growing demand for plant derived flavonoids.  This work focusses on studying the compounds quercetin-3-O-(2??,6??-di-O-?-l-rhamnopyranosyl)-?-d-glucopyranoside, kaempferol-3-O-(2??,6??-di-O-?-l-rhamnopyranosyl)-?-d-glucopyranoside, rutin; quercetin-3-O-?-d-glucopyranoside (Iso quercetin); and kaempferol-3-O-?-d-glucopyranoside (Astragalin) present in Chenopodium album Linn to inhibit Lanosterol synthase.   Bioactivity score, drug likeness character was assessed in silico.  Based on bioactivity spectrum, it is observed that the molecules are biologically active and the probability of these compounds to be biologically active is ranging from 0.784 to 0.992, suggesting that these compounds are effective for treating hypercholesterolemia.   In the molecular docking studies, the compounds binding affinity score was in agreement that the molecules have the potential to be used as an alternative to the statin group of compounds in treating cholesterol

On the influence of the cosmological constant on gravitational lensing in small systems

The cosmological constant Lambda affects gravitational lensing phenomena. The contribution of Lambda to the observable angular positions of multiple images and to their amplification and time delay is here computed through a study in the weak deflection limit of the equations of motion in the Schwarzschild-de Sitter metric. Due to Lambda the unresolved images are slightly demagnified, the radius of the Einstein ring decreases and the time delay increases. The effect is however negligible for near lenses. In the case of null cosmological constant, we provide some updated results on lensing by a Schwarzschild black hole.Comment: 8 pages, 1 figure; v2: extended discussion on the lens equation, references added, results unchanged, in press on PR

Ammonia-Nitrogen Recovery from Synthetic Solution using Agricultural Waste Fibers

In this study, modification of Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) fibers as a means to recover ammonianitrogen from a synthetic solution was investigated. Methods: The EFB fiber was modified using sodium hydroxide.Adsorption-desorption studies of ammonia nitrogen into the modified EFB fiber were investigated Findings: Theincrease in adsorption capacity was found to be proportional with the increase of pH up to 7, temperature and ammoniaconcentration. The maximum adsorption capacity is 0.53-10.89 mg/g. The attachment of ammonia nitrogen involves ionexchange-chemisorption. The maximum desorption capacity of 0.0999 mg/g. Applications: This study can be used as abaseline for designing a low cost adsorbent system for ammonia nitrogen recovery drainage and industrial wastewater aswell as EFBs-palm oil mill effluent composting

Recent Results in Electroweak B Decays from the BaBar Experiment

A review of the most recent BABAR results on electroweak penguin B decays is presented. The focus of this paper is on the measurement of observables in the decays B {yields} X{sub s}{gamma}, B {yields} K{sup (*)}l{sup +}l{sup -} B {yields} K{sub s}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0}{gamma} (time-dependent analysis) and B {yields} ({rho}/{omega}){gamma}