Lower bound to the π0π0 S-wave scattering length

Starting from analyticity, unitarity and crossing symmetry of the π⁰π⁰ elastic scattering amplitude we derive an inequality between the S- and D-wave scattering lengths (a₀ and a₂, respectively) of the form: $\text{a}{}_0\text{>?23.5}\text{a}{}_2\text{+141a}{}_2$. Using the phenomenological value of a₂ we can improve in this way the lower bound to a₀.     

Heavy flavour multiplicities at very high energies

We calculate the total multiplicity of heavy flavours in e⁺e^? annihilation at very high energies in the framework of QCD. The problem is dominated by the soft limit of the perturbative expansion and we develop suitable techniques to resum to all orders the leading double logarithmic terms. The results indicate at very high energy a growth of multiplicity faster than any power of log. We find an interesting asymptotic factorization of energy dependence and flavour mass dependence of multiplicities.     

Evolution of parton densities beyond leading order: The non-singlet case

We develop a technique, based explicitly on the factorization properties of mass singularities, which allows one to calculate the evolution of parton densities beyond leading order. We present the results for the evolution of hadronic structure functions as well as for parton fragmentation functions into hadrons. Within our scheme the predictions for a particular process are obtained by convoluting a universal parton density with a “short-distance” cross section specific to the process. As an application, we calculate the QCD predictions for the Q² dependence of deep inelastic lepton-hadron scattering and of one-particle iclusive e⁺ e^? annihilation cross sections. Our results for electroproduction agree with those obtained with the operator product expansion technique. Physical quantities in scattering are related to the corresponding ones in annihilation by analytic continuation, whereas the Gribov-Lipatov relation is strongly violated.     

The anomalous behaviour of nuclear structure functions revisited

The anomalous behaviour of the nuclear structure functions is discussed in the framework of a simple statistical parton model, where the nucleus is treated as a bag of uncorrelated partons. We show that the model reproduces correctly the main features of the effect and, to some extent, it is even successful at the numerical level. The characteristic prediction of the model (to be tested experimentally) is a saturation law: for largeA (=nuclear mass number) the anomalous nuclear behaviour of the structure functions is described by a universal (i.e.A-independent) function of the Bjorken variable.     

Micromechanical modeling of anisotropic behavior of oriented semicrystalline polymers

Some manufacturing processes of polymeric materials, such as injection molding or film blowing, cause the final product to be highly anisotropic. In this study, the mechanical behavior of drawn polyethylene (PE) tapes is investigated via micromechanical modeling. An elasto‐viscoplastic micromechanical model, developed within the framework of the so‐called composite inclusion model, is presented to capture the anisotropic behavior of oriented semicrystalline PE. Two different phases, namely amorphous and crystalline (both described by elasto‐viscoplastic constitutive models), are considered at the microstructural level. The initial oriented crystallographic structure of the drawn tapes is taken into account. It was previously shown by Sedighiamiri et al. (Comp. Mater. Sci. 2014, 82, 415) that by only considering the oriented crystallographic structure, it is not possible to capture the macroscopic anisotropic behavior of drawn tapes. The main contribution of this study is the development of an anisotropic model for the amorphous phase within the micromechanical framework. An Eindhoven glassy polymer (EGP)‐based model including different sources of anisotropy, namely anisotropic elasticity, internal stress in the elastic network and anisotropic viscoplasticity, is developed for the amorphous phase and incorporated into the micromechanical model. Comparisons against experimental results reveal remarkable improvements of the model predictions (compared to micromechanical model predictions including isotropic amorphous domains) and thus the significance of the amorphous phase anisotropy on the overall behavior of drawn PE tapes. © 2019 The Authors. Journal of Polymer Science Part B: Polymer Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2019 , 57, 378–391     

Lepton-hadron processes beyond leading order in quantum chromodynamics

We present a summary of QCD formulae describing the effects of scaling violation in leptonhadron processes, with the inclusion of recently derived higher order corrections. Deep inelastic leptoproduction, one-hadron inclusive distributions in leptoproduction and ine ⁺ e ^? annihilation and Drell-Yan processes are discussed in detail. Higher order corrections to parton densities, fragmentation functions and to lepton-parton cross-sections in the above processes are presented in a common factorization scheme, so that a comparative analysis of various processes as well as an independent analysis of each of them is possible. A discussion of the various scheme dependences at next-to-leading level is also included.     

Dimensional renormalization and factorization

The problem of formulating a high-energy factorization explicitly in terms of dimensionally renormalized operators and coefficient functions is analyzed in the context of deep-inelastic scattering in renormalizable scalar theories. The coefficient functions that emerge are found to be the finite parts of dimensionally continued on-shell amplitudes, and are readily amenable to explicit computation. As a byproduct, an explicit forest formula emerges for the mass-singularity poles of on-shell amplitudes in renormalizable theories. The extension to gauge theories is briefly discussed at the leading twist level. The method is compared to the alternative approach to factorization whereby a finite hard part is defined by factorizing off mass-singularities.     

The measurement of extracellular water volumes in tissues by gadolinium modification of 1H-NMR spin lattice (T1) relaxation

The present studies were conducted in RIF-1, M5076 and Panc02 murine tumor models to compare extracellular water measurements made by 51Cr-EDTA dilution techniques and a new method which exploits the concentration dependent modification of 1H-NMR proton relaxation by Gadolinium-DTPA-dimethyl glucamine (Gd-DTPA-dimeg) in plasma and tissues. The time dependent changes in T1 modification in tissue and plasma were determined at various intervals after i.v. injection of 0.1 ml of 100 mM Gd-DTPA-dimeg and Gd concentrations determined from standard curves of Gd concentration dependent T1 modification of mouse plasma. Comparison of tissue and plasma Gd concentrations permitted the calculation of Gd-DTPA-dimeg distribution volumes. In unperturbed RIF-1, M5076 and Panc02 tumors, Gd-DTPA-dimeg distribution volumes determined by the T1 modification technique were similar to extracellular water spaces determined by 51Cr-EDTA dilution assays. In mouse liver, the 51Cr-EDTA assay resulted in artifactually high extracellular water space estimates due to internalization of the probe; Gd-DTPA-dimeg distribution volumes determined in liver with both the 153Gd-DTPA-dimeg and by the T1 modification method were approximately 150 ul/gram. The Gd-DTPA-dimeg T1 modification method also provided good approximations of changes in extracellular water volumes in RIF-1 tumors after dexamethasone and cyclophosphamide treatments. These results indicate that Gd-DTPA-dimeg modification of proton relaxation may be extremely useful for monitoring changes in tumor water dynamics during cancer therapy.     

Finite element analysis of concurrent radiation and conduction in participating media

A method is proposed to calculate temperature, conductive and radiative heat flux distributions in a participating medium. The method is based on the simultaneous solution of two non-linear and mutually conjugated equations describing distribution of both temperature and the so-called radiation function in the medium. In the case of isotropic scattering, the latter quantity, is proportional to the local energy density of radiation. The solution of the coupled non-linear equations is based on the finite element spatial discretization combined with the iterative technique.     

1H-NMR relaxation times and water compartmentalization in experimental tumor models

The present studies were conducted with RIF-1, M5076 and Panc02 subcutaneous tumor models to assess the relationship between tissue-free water compartmentalization and observed tissue T1 and T2 changes at 10 MHz. Observed T1 was shown to correlate directly with total extracellular water and interstitial water volumes. T1 and T2 were also inversely related to intracellular water volumes. T1 and T2 decreases after dexamethasone treatment were, however, most closely correlated with changes in tumor extracellular water and not changes in cell or total water volumes. Studies to assess Gd-DTPA-dimeg dose dependent T1 and T2 modification in model serum protein solutions indicated that although the Gd concentration that reduced T2 by 50% was about 2.5 fold greater than that required to reduce T1 equally, the of the concentration dependent T1 and T2 modifications were similar. In studies with tumor models, the injected dose of Gd-DTPA-dimeg that reduced T1 by 50% was inversely correlated with tumor extracellular water volumes. The slopes for dose dependent T1 modification in all tumors were similar and similar to that observed for model protein solutions. Gd-DTPA-dimeg had a different effect on observed T2 values for the 3 tumor models. Exponential slopes were about twice that observed for T2 modification of serum protein solutions, and Gd-DTPA-dimeg doses that reduced observed tumor T2 ranged from 9 to 50 times that necessary to similarly reduce T1. The results from these studies indicate that the observed T1, for these tumors, was dominated by relaxation of water protons in interstitial water but that the observed T2 was most strongly influenced by proton relaxation in water compartments that were unavailable to the Gd labeled probe.