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The Ma bamboo (Dendrocalamus latiflorus Munro) covers 152,300 ha in Taiwan, roughly of 7.2 % the overall forest area. This study calculated the energy and mass balance of Ma bamboo as a feedstock for bioethanol production. Several processes included acidic steam explosion, alkaline steam explosion, bleached, unbleached kraft pulps, enzyme hydrolysis, and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) for fuel ethanol production from bamboo were studied through energy consumption and energy production. The energy analysis of the compacting fermented residue was also evaluated. Results show that the post-fermentation residues possessed high heating values. The net energy value of acidic steam explosion pulp, alkali steam explosion, kraft pulp, and bleached pulp is -1.75, 4.42, -2.71, and2.90 MJ/kg chip. The alkali steam explosion has highest net energy value and is equivalent to 50.22 MJ/kg ethanol. The net energy gains could be achieved for the processes with greater ethanol yields: acid steam explosion and fully bleached pulps. SSF could produce 220 ML/t of starting biomass of bioethanols from acidic steam explosion pulps and 148 ML/t of starting biomass of bioethanols from alkaline steam explosion pretreatment pulps annually.

We declare that we live in the quantum 4-dimensional Minkowski space-time with, via the gauge principle, the force-fields gauge-group structure, $SU_c(3) \times SU_L(2) \times U(1)$ applied to the quark world or $SU_L(2) \times U(1) \times SU_f(3)$ applied to the lepton world, built-in from the very beginning. The quark world with the triplets from the "quark" group $SU_Q(3)$ (used to be called "flavor $SU(3)$ symmetry"), which is of nuclear sizes and is protected by $SU_c(3) \times SU_L(2) \times U(1)$ (i.e. the (123) symmetry), can be seen by our world, while the lepton world, as of atomic sizes and protected by $SU_L(2) \times U(1) \times SU_f(3)$ or another (123) symmetry, can also be seen, as singlets of the quark group $SU_Q(3)$, by our world. Apart from the "ignition" term, the entire Standard Model is dimensionless and massless in the quantum 4-dimensional Minkowski space-time; that is, all couplings are dimensionless and there are no mass terms in the quantum 4-dimensional Minkowski space-time. Therefore, there exist the well-studied $3^\circ \,K$ cosmic microwave background (CMB) and the now clustered neutrino halos formed from cosmic background (CB) neutrinos (of three flavors, and antineutrinos), both present in the overall background of our Universe. In theory, it yields neutrino oscillations, as some lepton-flavor-violating processes, in a natural manner., Comment: 24 pages

We believe that the quantum 4-dimensional Minkowski space-time with the force-fields gauge-group structure $SU_c(3) \times SU_L(2) \times U(1) \times SU_f(3)$ built-in from the very beginning is the background for everything. Thus, the self-repulsive, but ``related'', complex scalar fields $\Phi(1,2)$ (the Standard-Model Higgs), $\Phi(3,1)$ (the purely family Higgs), and $\Phi(3,2)$ (the mixed family Higgs), with the first family label and the second $SU_L(2)$ label, co-exist such that they generate all the masses if, and only if, necessary. Note that the ``ignition'' channel is on the elusive $\Phi(3,1)$ channel, yielding the prediction that the Standard-Model (SM) Higgs mass $m_{SM}$ is half of the SM vacuum expectation value $v$. Before the ``ignition'', there is no mass terms, including the Higgs, the quarks, and the leptons. Apart from the ``ignition'' term, all the couplings are dimensionless and thus the theory is determined by the quantum 4-dimensional Minkowski space-time. The multi-GeV or sub-sub-fermi $SU_f(3)$ family gauge fields protect the lepton world from the QED Landau ghost and make them asymptotically free. We try to discuss different ways to deal with infinities (ultraviolet divergences) for the resultant Standard Model (as the consistent and complete theory)., Comment: 4 figures

We ponder about neutrino oscillations; a particle without a clear identity, a neutrino of a given flavor in fact does not satisfy the Dirac equation (which is used to define the mass eigen-states and mass eigen-values). This alters the basic treatment of neutrino oscillations, in that the Dirac spinors are defined as the mass eigen-states while the flavor states can only be given as linear combinations of the mass eigen-states (of Dirac equations). Even though neutrino masses are tiny, the impacts of several neutrino masses in a single reaction or a single decay, such as possible violation of the energy-momentum conservation, should not be overlooked. Among those sources of oscillating neutrinos, we point out that the ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR's) such as the proton of energy $10^{18}\, eV$ or higher, used to think of being rather stable, can capture, in the matter media, an electron to convert into an electron-like neutrino and a spectator neutron. This would be the most important neutrino source of the UHECR origin., 4 figures

To describe neutrino oscillations in the sense of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, we propose to use an off-diagonal neutrino-Higgs (mass) interaction, as discussed originally in a family gauge theory and in the extended Standard Model. For neutrino oscillations which take place presumably between point-like Dirac particles, the proposed description would be unique in the quantum mechanics sense. This may help us to resolve a few outstanding puzzles - the question of why there are only three generations, the question of why the masses of neutrinos are so tiny, the question of why neutrinos oscillate, and the question of why the dark-matter world is so huge (25%) as compared to the visible ordinary-matter world (5%)., 1 figure. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1209.5488, arXiv:1212.4944, arXiv:1207.6837, arXiv:1304.4705

The problem of galactic formation and evolution should be solved on the basis of the Standard Model of particle physics. We believe that we live in the quantum 4-dimensional Minkowski space-time with the force-fields gauge-group structure SU_c(3) \times SU_L(2) \times U(1) \times SU_f(3) built-in from the very beginning, i.e., the "background" of our world. From this "background", we can see the lepton world, of atomic sizes, and also the quark world, of (fermi)^3 sizes. Basing on this belief, we study galactic formation and evolution, concluding that our Cosmos should end up with "model" galaxies. A model galaxy is the one in which a spiral visible ordinary-matter galaxy, such as our Milky Way and satellites, is surrounded by a huge dark-matter neutrino halo. As a byproduct (of studying the Standard Model), we find that neutrinos will be the {\it only long-lived} dark-matter particles., 18 pages

We would like to discuss the language to write an extended Standard Model - using renormalizable quantum field theory as the framework; to start with certain basic units together with a certain gauge group. Specifically we use the left-handed and right-handed spinors to form the basic units together with SUc(3) x SUL(2) x U(1) x SUf(3) as the gauge group. We could write down the extended Standard Model, though the details of the Higgs mechanism remains to be worked out. The same general quest appeared about forty years ago - the so-called "How to build up a model". It is timely to address the same question again especially since we could now put together "Dirac similarity principle" and "Higgs minimum hypothesis" as two additional working rules., Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1207.6443, arXiv:1209.5488

We try to envision that there might be a dark-matter world and neutrinos, especially the right-handed ones, might be coupled directly with dark-matter particles in the dark-matter world. The candidate model would be the extended Standard Model based on SU_c(3)\times SU_L(2)\times U(1)\times SU_f (3)\times SU_R(2), with the search of the detailed version through the aid of the two working rules, "Dirac similarity principle" and "minimum Higgs hypothesis"., Comment: 1 figure. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1203.1407, arXiv:1207.6443

The physics of the 20th Century is governed by two pillars, Einstein's relativity principle and the quantum principle. At the beginning of the 21st Century, it becomes clear that there exist the smallest units of matter, such as electrons, neutrinos, and quarks; their behaviors are described by the Standard Model. It was believed that the temperature of the early Universe was once 300 GeV, or higher, at $10^{-11} sec$, and then going through the electroweak phase transition. But the mass phase transition happens in the purely imaginary temperature. Later on, its temperature was 150 MeV at $3.3 \times 10^{-5} sec$, and then going through the "QCD cosmological phase transition". We attempt to use the Standard Model, a completely dimensionless theory apart from the negative "ignition" term, to conclude that the EW or mass phase transition {\it does not exist}. On the front of QCD cosmological phase transition, the intriguing question about the latent heat (energy) is discussed and its role is speculated., 24 pages, 1 figure

Our Universe is described jointly by Einstein's relativity principle and the quantum principle; there the existence of the smallest units of matter, such as electrons, neutrinos, quarks, and photons, is well established and the smallest units of matter are described by the Standard Model. Based on these, we have a clear picture for the propagation of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR's), for energies greater than $E > 10^{13}\, eV$ but less than $E < 10^{26}\, eV$, in the cosmic medium of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and of the cosmic background neutrinos (CB$��$'s). We find that the CMB plays a pivot role in this energy range, so that the observed "knee(s)" and the "ankle" could be understood in reasonable terms. What we might observe at the energy near $10^{25}\,eV$', the so-called "$W^\pm$ bursts" or "$Z^0$ bursts", is briefly discussed. Meanwhile, in the early Universe, the CB$��$'s, in view of the tiny neutrino mass, gave rise to the clustering phenomenon, resulting in a neutrino halo attached to each visual ordinary-matter object, such as the Earth, the Sun, and stars - with the $PeV$ neutrinos near the surface of the Fermi-Dirac sphere of the neutrino halo of the Earth playing the most fundamental role., 16 pages

We introduce the "Dirac similarity principle" that states that only those point-like Dirac particles which can interact with the Dirac electron can be observed, such as in the Standard Model. We emphasize that the existing world of the Standard Model is a Dirac world satisfying the Dirac similarity principle and believe that the immediate extension of the Standard Model will remain to be so. On the other hand, we are looking for Higgs particles for the last forty years but something is yet to be found. This leads naturally to the "minimum Higgs hypotheses". Now we know firmly that neutrinos have tiny masses, but in the minimal Standard Model there is no natural sources for such tiny masses. If nothing else, this could be taken as the clue as the signature of the existence of the extra heavy $Z^{\prime 0}$ since it requires the extra Higgs field, that would help in generating the neutrino tiny masses. Alternatively, we may have missed the right-hand sector for some reason. A simplified version of the left-right symmetric electroweak model has the simplest Higgs sector (in which there is one standard left-hand Higgs doublet together with the image right-handed Higgs doublet), of which the Higgs sector also satisfies the "minimum Higgs hypothesis". Or, if we question the origin of the family symmetry, we may consider to enlarge it to the family gauge symmetry. It transpires very feeble family interactions. All the above possibilities satisfy both the so-called "Dirac similarity principle", the "minimum Higgs hypothesis", and renormalizability.

We find the exact one-loop effective action in a Schwarzschild black hole in the proper-time integral from the Schwinger variational principle, which has the same form up to number of states as the Heisenberg-Euler and Schwinger QED effective action in a constant electric field. The leading term for Hawking radiation comes from the first simple pole of the vacuum polarization and the sum of residues from all simple poles exactly leads to the vacuum persistence. We show that the vacuum persistence is the total flux of Hawking radiation for bosons and fermions and the vacuum polarization has an expression of thermal distribution and the propagator., RevTex 5 pages, no figure

Recalculating the Bogoliubov coefficients from the solutions in Phys. Rev. D 78, 103517 (2008), we obtain the mean number of boson pairs in a uniform electric field in the global coordinates dS_2 and AdS_2, which have the correct zero-field and zero-curvature limits, and study the vacuum persistence at one-loop. The mean number in AdS_2 gives the lowest limit to the Breitenloher-Freedman bound in the uniform electric field, and the mean numbers in dS_2 and AdS_2 satisfy the reciprocal relation N_{dS} (R, E) N_{AdS} (R, E) = 1 under the analytical continuation of the scalar curvature R., Comment: RevTex 6 pages; 2 figures

We now know firmly that neutrinos have tiny masses, but in the minimal Standard Model there is no natural sources for such tiny masses. On the other hand, the extra heavy Z^{\prime 0} requires the extra Higgs field, the particle generating the mass. Here I propose that the previous 2+2 Higgs scenario could be a natural framework for mass generations for both the neutrinos and the extra Z^{\prime)}. These particles are classified as the "dark matter". Hopefully all the couplings to the "visible" matter are through the neutrinos and the extra Z^{\prime 0}, explaining naturally why the dark matter is so dark to see.

Within a covariant Bethe-Salpeter approach a rank-six separable neutron-proton interaction kernel for the triplet coupled $^3S_1$-$^3D_1$ partial-wave state is constructed. Two different methods of a relativistic generalization of initially nonrelativistic form factors parametrizing the kernel are considered. The model parameters are determined by fitting the elastic $^3S_1$ and $^3D_1$ phase shifts and the triplet scattering length as well as the asymptotic $D/S$ ratio of the deuteron wave functions and the deuteron binding energy. The $D$-state probability constraints 4-7\% are taken into account. The deuteron magnetic moment is calculated. The half-off-shell properties are further demonstrated by the Noyes-Kowalski functions. The first test of the constructed kernel is performed by calculating the deuteron electrodisintegration at three different kinematic conditions., Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures

Even though neutrinos and antineutrinos are everywhere in the Universe, their critical importance might be overlooked, especially because that at least one species of neutrinos has the mass 0.058 eV, far larger than the cosmic thermalization temperature 1.9^\circ K. The non-zero mass makes neutrinos participate the galaxy formation from the very beginning, in view of the process of clustering. Unlike the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the cosmic background neutrinos (CB\nu) cannot be uniform. Thus, we wish to examine the questions such as: Is there some new source for neutrinos or antineutrinos, that might be detectible experimentally? Is there some new interaction of neutrinos with the visible world, that may be of numerical importance at, e.g., the ultra high energies (\ge 10^{13} eV)? One major conclusion is that, on the basis of the Standard Model, neutrinos would eventually become the {\it only} dark-matter species left in our Universe. Our Cosmos is limited in energy for various particles, electrons or photons without threshold, while protons or neutrinos having the following hurdles to overcome in reaching extreme energies such as 10^{18} eV. In an electron-rich medium, the threshold is 10^{15} eV for an ultra high energy (UHECR) proton, due to p + e^- \to n + \nu_e. On the other hand, the cosmic background neutrinos would cut off UHECR neutrinos of greater than 10^{13} eV if at least one kind of neutrinos has the mass 0.05 eV (as suggested by the experimental value of 0.058 eV), due to \nu +{\bar \nu}_{CB} \to e^- + e^+; this, plus the clustering due to mass, gives us some hope that this effect might be detectible., Comment: 17 pages

ATF2 is a final-focus test beam line that aims to focus the low-emittance beam from the ATF damping ring to a beam size of about 37 nm, and at the same time to demonstrate nm beam stability, using numerous advanced beam diagnostics and feedback tools. The construction has been finished at the end of 2008 and the beam commissioning of ATF2 has started in December of 2008. ATF2 is constructed and commissioned by ATF international collaborations with strong US, Asian and European participation.

We advocate the extraterrestrial solar neutrino physics (etSNP) as a means of investigating solar neutrino physics (SNP). As we already know, the dominant and subdominant (vacuum) oscillation lengths would be approximately one kilometer and one hundred kilometers. On the other hand, we know so far that the matter-enhanced oscillations take place only in the core of the Sun. Thus, the etSNP, i.e. solar neutrino physics that could be extracted outside the Earth, would assume a special unique role. The etSNP experiments include (1) a satellite (detector) around the Earth or around the Jupiter or others (to provide the shadow, for the matter-enhanced neutrino oscillations), (2) during the Sun-Venus-Earth eclipse or similar, and (3) the chemical compositions of the geology type (as in the Jupiter or in the Venus, to study the origins of these planets). To be specific, we note that the reactions induced by the ^8B solar neutrinos, in view of the sole high energy nature (E_\nu^{max}=14.03 MeV), would be most interesting in the solar environment. Moreover, the experiments such as the chemical compositions of the geology type (on the Venus or Jupiter) and the matter-enhanced oscillations when the Sun-Venus-Earth eclipse, or the Sun-Mercury-Earth eclipse, may also be interesting.

We all know that in our family of particle physics we have three generations but still don't know why - the so-called "family problem". On other hand, in view of the masses and oscillations, the neutrinos now present some basic difficulty in the Standard Model. In this note, I propose that on top of the SU_c(3) \times SU(2) \times U(1) standard model there is an SU_f (3) extension - a simple SU_c(3) \times SU(2) \times U(1) \times SU_f (3) extended standard model. The family gauge bosons (familons) are massive through the so-called "colored" Higgs mechanism while the remaining Higgs particles are also massive. The three neutrinos, the electron-like, muon-like, and tao-like neutrinos, form the basic family triplets. Hopefully all the couplings to the "visible" matter are through the neutrinos, explaining why dark matter (25 %) is more than visible matter (5 %) in our Universe., 3 pages

Judging from the fact that the planet Jupiter is bigger in size than the Earth by 10^3 while is smaller than the Sun by 10^3 and that the average distance of the Jupiter from the Sun is 5.203 a.u., the solar neutrinos, when encounter the Jupiter, may have some accumulating effects bigger than on the Earth. We begin by estimating how much energy/power carried by solar neutrinos get transferred by this unique process, to confirm that solar neutrinos, despite of their feeble neutral weak current interactions, might deposit enough energy in the Jupiter. We also speculate on the other remarkable effects., 5 pages

Aqueous droplets submerged in an oil-lipid mixture become enclosed by a lipid monolayer. The droplets can be connected to form robust networks of droplet interface bilayers (DIBs) with functions such as a biobattery and a light sensor. The discovery and characterization of an engineered nanopore with diode-like properties is enabling the construction of DIB networks capable of biochemical computing. Moreover, DIB networks might be used as model systems for the study of membrane-based biological phenomena. We develop and experimentally validate an electrical modeling approach for DIB networks. Electrical circuit simulations will be important in guiding the development of increasingly complex DIB networks.In cell membranes, the lipid compositions of the inner and outer leaflets differ. Therefore, a robust model system that enables single-channel electrical recording with asymmetric bilayers would be very useful. Towards this end, we incorporate lipid vesicles of different compositions into aqueous droplets and immerse them in an oil bath to form asymmetric DIBs (a-DIBs). Both α-helical and β-barrel membrane proteins insert readily into a-DIBs, and their activity can be measured by single-channel electrical recording. We show that the gating behavior of outer membrane protein G (OmpG) from Escherichia coli differs depending on the side of insertion in an asymmetric DIB with a positively charged leaflet opposing a negatively charged leaflet. The a-DIB system provides a general platform for studying the effects of bilayer leaflet composition on the behavior of ion channels and pores.Even with the small volumes (~100 nL) that can be used to form DIBs, the separation between two adjacent bilayers in a DIB network is typically still hundreds of microns. In contrast, dual-membrane spanning proteins require the bilayer separation to be much smaller; for example, the bilayer separation for gap junctions must be less than 5 nm. We designed a double bilayer system that consists of two monolayer-coated aqueous spheres brought into contact with each side of a water film submerged in an oil-lipid solution. The spheres could be brought close enough together such that they physically deflected without rupturing the double bilayer. Future work on quantifying the bilayer separation and studying dual-membrane spanning proteins with the double bilayer platform is planned.

The scenario that some first-order phase transitions may have taken place in the early Universe offers us one of the most intriguing and fascinating questions in cosmology. Indeed, the role played by the latent "heat" or energy released in the phase transition is highly nontrivial and may lead to some surprising, important results. In this paper, we take the wisdom that the cosmological QCD phase transition, which happened at a time between 10^(-5) sec and 10^(-4) sec or at the temperature of about 150 MeV and accounts for confinement of quarks and gluons to within hadrons, would be of first order. To get the essence out of the scenario, it is sufficient to approximate the true QCD vacuum as one of degenerate theta-vacua and when necessary we try to model it effectively via a complex scalar field with spontaneous symmetry breaking. We examine how and when "pasted" or "patched" domain walls are formed, how long such walls evolve in the long run, and we believe that the significant portion of dark matter could be accounted for in terms of such domain-wall structure and its remnants. Of course, the cosmological QCD phase transition happened in the way such that the false vacua associated with baryons and many other color-singlet objects did not disappear (that is, using the bag-model language, there are bags of radius 1.0 fermi for the baryons) - but the amount of the energy remained in the false vacua is negligible. The latent energy released due to the conversion of the false vacua to the true vacua, in the form of "pasted" or "patched" domain walls in the short run and their numerous evolved objects, should make the concept of the "radiation-dominated" epoch, or of the "matter-dominated" epoch to be re-examined., Comment: 16 pages, 1 figure