Abstract: We first construct the effective chiral Lagrangians for the 1(-+) exotic mesons. With the infrared regularization scheme, we derive the one-loop infrared singular chiral corrections to the pi(1) (1600) mass explicitly. We investigate the variation of the different chiral corrections with the pion mass under two schemes. Hopefully, the explicit non-analytical chiral structures will be helpful for the chiral extrapolation of lattice data from the dynamical lattice QCD simulation of either the exotic light hybrid meson or the tetraquark state.

Abstract: One of the fundamental parameters entering the neutrino oscillation framework is the leptonic CP phase delta(13), and its measurement is an important goal of the planned long baseline experiments. It should be noted that ordinary matter effects complicate the determination of this parameter, and there are studies in the literature that deal with separation of intrinsic vs extrinsic CP violation. It is important to investigate the consequences of new physics effects that can not only hamper the measurement of delta(13) but also impact the consequences of discrete symmetries such as CP, T, and unitarity in different oscillation channels. In the present work, we explore these discrete symmetries and implications on unitarity in the presence of two new physics scenarios (nonstandard interaction in propagation and the presence of sterile neutrinos) that serve as good examples of going beyond the standard scenario in different directions. We uncover the impact of new physics scenarios on disentangling intrinsic and extrinsic CP violation.

Abstract: We have performed calculations for the non-leptonic Xi(-)(b) -> pi-(D-S(-)) Xi(0)(C) (2790)(J = 1/2) Xi(-)(b) -> pi(-) Xi(0)(C)(2815) (J = 3/2) and decays and the same reactions replacing the pi- by a D-s(-). At the same time we have also evaluated the semileptonic rates for and Xi(-)(b) -> pi-(D-S(-)) Xi(0)(C) (2790). We look at the reactions from the perspective that the Xi(0(2790))(c) and Xi(0)(c)(2815()) resonances are dynamically generated from the pseudoscalar-baryon and vector-baryon interactions. We evaluate ratios of the rates of these reactions and make predictions that can be tested in future experiments. We also find that the results are rather sensitive to the coupling of the Xi(c)* resonances to the D*Sigma and D*A components.

Abstract: Accelerating gradients in excess of 100 MV/m, at very low breakdown rates, have been successfully achieved in numerous prototype CLIC accelerating structures. The conditioning and operational histories of several structures, tested at KEK and CERN, have been compared and there is clear evidence that the conditioning progresses with the number of rf pulses and not with the number of breakdowns. This observation opens the possibility that the optimum conditioning strategy, which minimizes the total number of breakdowns the structure is subject to without increasing conditioning time, may be to never exceed the breakdown rate target for operation. The result is also likely to have a strong impact on efforts to understand the physical mechanism underlying conditioning and may lead to preparation procedures which reduce conditioning time.

Abstract: Purpose: Initial auto-adjustment of the window level WL and width WW applied to mammographic images. The proposed intensity windowing (IW) method is based on the maximization of the mutual information (MI) between a perceptual decomposition of the original 12-bit sources and their screen displayed 8-bit version. Besides zoom, color inversion and panning operations, IW is the most commonly performed task in daily screening and has a direct impact on diagnosis and the time involved in the process. Methods: The authors present a human visual system and perception-based algorithm named GRAIL (Gabor-relying adjustment of image levels). GRAIL initially measures a mammogram's quality based on the MI between the original instance and its Gabor-filtered derivations. From this point on, the algorithm performs an automatic intensity windowing process that outputs the WL/WW that best displays each mammogram for screening. GRAIL starts with the default, high contrast, wide dynamic range 12-bit data, and then maximizes the graphical information presented in ordinary 8-bit displays. Tests have been carried out with several mammogram databases. They comprise correlations and an ANOVA analysis with the manual IW levels established by a group of radiologists. A complete MATLAB implementation of GRAIL is available at . Results: Auto-leveled images show superior quality both perceptually and objectively compared to their full intensity range and compared to the application of other common methods like global contrast stretching (GCS). The correlations between the human determined intensity values and the ones estimated by our method surpass that of GCS. The ANOVA analysis with the upper intensity thresholds also reveals a similar outcome. GRAIL has also proven to specially perform better with images that contain micro-calcifications and/or foreign X-ray-opaque elements and with healthy BI-RADS A-type mammograms. It can also speed up the initial screening time by a mean of 4.5 s per image. Conclusions: A novel methodology is introduced that enables a quality-driven balancing of the WL/WW of mammographic images. This correction seeks the representation that maximizes the amount of graphical information contained in each image. The presented technique can contribute to the diagnosis and the overall efficiency of the breast screening session by suggesting, at the beginning, an optimal and customized windowing setting for each mammogram.