The long bluestone facade of the former Carlton & United Brewery building on Bouverie Street has been retained as part of the Swanston Square project now taking shape. Lovell Chen has been working on the conservation of the facade's stonework.
The handsomly detailed facade was constructed in four stages between 1864 and 1927, reflecting the rapid growth and constant change in Victoria's brewing industry. Brewing ceased on the whole site in 1987 and most of the buildings — except this one and the Malt House on Swanston Street — were demolished in the 1990s. Remnants of the former Board Room in the Bouverie Street building also remain. Casts have been made of its cornice mouldings for future reference.
The building's roof is being reinstated, and the proposed new tower for the site will have an independent structure, penetrating the roof as necessary. The Bouverie Street building will house retail spaces at ground level, entered from Victoria Street through a section of brickwork facade that will also be reinstated.


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Former News Anchor Tony Parsons shares his story about hearing loss and announces his affiliation with NexGen Hearing.
As though on cue with National Hearing Awareness month in Canada, Tony Parsons stepped out of retirement to become the official voice for NexGen Hearing, a BC hearing aid retailer with 50 clinics in the province. Tony's story is an interesting one.
On May 26th 2018, Tony Parsons made a surprise guest appearance at the Nexgen Hearing Annual General Meeting. A packed conference room made up of hearing professionals and staff from Nexgen Hearing, greeted Tony and wife Tammy with a standing ovation and exuberant applause. After a warm welcome by President and Operations Director Marke Hambley, Tony was officially introduced as the official spokesperson for Nexgen Hearing and the Hear 4U Foundation.
Parsons addressed the group by sharing his personal journey to improved hearing health.
"I've come to learn about the educational side of your business model and I appreciate the information and support you provide for your clients. I was approached by Marke Hambley, and my new friend Dan Whitney asking that I consider a role in the company. Today, I am delighted to say that I have committed to speaking out about hearing loss as the official spokesperson for NexGen Hearing and the Hear 4U Foundation! – The first commercial endorsement I have ever accepted, I might add".
After a comprehensive assessment, it turns out that Tony's wife wasn't mumbling. He has a high frequency sensorineural hearing loss in both of his ears. It is of a mild degree on his left side, but there is a severe degree of loss on the right side. This high frequency hearing loss has prevented him from hearing specific consonants sounds: "s, f, sh, th, t, k".
He is still hearing people, but quite often finds that it sounds like they are 'mumbling.' Tony also has frequent difficulties understanding people when in a group situation or in a noisy restaurant. It's likely that his hearing ability has been deteriorating very slowly and gradually over many years. This has resulted in a lack of awareness regarding the amount of hearing that Tony has lost. While his wife has been commenting to him for many years about his hearing difficulties, he hasn't felt that it had deteriorated enough to be concerned about.
Since the initial consultation and referral to an ENT specialist, Tony has now been fitted with Oticon Opn 1 hearing aids. There are two primary functions to these advanced hearing aids that specifically address the problems that most hearing impaired people experience. The first function is to increase clarity (reduce 'mumbling') by amplifying the high frequency consonants that Tony is unable to hear without the hearing aids. The second function is to reduce as much background noise as possible when Tony is in a noisy setting.
The Opn 1 hearing aids have made significant strides in allowing people to maintain active and social lifestyles. These hearing aids are specifically designed to enhance speech while at the same time reduce more background noise than other hearing aids.


text:
Alex Magaisa
Magaisa Questions China's Logic In Donating COVID-19 Material To First Lady
24th April 2020 Zimbabwe
UNITED KINGDOM-based lawyer and academic Alex Magaisa has questioned the recent decision made by Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Guo Shaochun to present coronavirus donations to the First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa's Angel of Hope Foundation instead of the Health Ministry.
Magaisa said giving urgent required COVID-19 material to Mnangagwa was creating unnecessary bureaucracy and seeking political mileage while people's lives were at risk.
Zimbabwe has 28 confirmed COVID-19 cases including four deaths.
This week, the Chinese embassy in Harare wrote; "Chinese companies, Sichuan PD Times Technology Co. and Huawei, handed over 50,000 masks, 510 protective suits and 1,000 goggles to Angel of Hope Foundation. Honoured to work with the First Lady to serve people."
However, Magaisa felt the donation should have been directed with urgency to the Health Ministry, which was dealing directly with COVID-19 patients and working on preventing the spread of the virus in communities.
He said the Chinese nationals in Harare were using the First Lady as their political ladder to get closer to President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
"To capture the heart of the highest office. They probably discovered that power or at least influence, rests in the other half, and, therefore, her happiness is the best path to the leader's heart and mind.
"Now they come through a non-state actor which is related to the country's CEO when the State entities exist, indeed when the World Health Organisation and UNDP exist. We can see through the veil. Zimbabweans are not in the 19th century and they certainly aren't stupid," said Magaisa.
He said it was also disgusting for a giant Chinese company, such as Huawei Technologies, to be exempted from paying taxes in Zimbabwe, revenue which could be channeled to mobilising resources for COVID-19.
"Ambassador, thank you but with respect, please note that unlike some people you deal with, we are not stupid. Why can't Huawei just pay its taxes dating back to 2009? We know from our history how gifts and trinkets were used to lure our unsuspecting leaders in the 19th century," he added.
Last year, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube exempted Huawei Technologies from paying its taxes dating back to 2009.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


> > My only concern is documentation, and that it should also cover the kinks and quirks.
But I see you've filed a separate Jira for that.
Thanks Fero for taking a look! Yes, all documentation update will be covered in SQOOP-3384.
> Review request for Sqoop, daniel voros, Fero Szabo, and Szabolcs Vasas.
> Testing the Text and Parquet imports into an external Hive table backed by S3.


hey, my first logo that gets to the gallery... woah! :)*thank you guys, your floats and comments at any of my logos are more than welcomed. thank you all.
I am very impressed by all your comments and floats.*Thank you all!
This has a funky and fun, yet corporate appeal to it. Very nice approach.
This is really innovative. Love it!
What can I say, B R I L L I A N T!
i have found it in %22here%22:http://www.free-download-blog.com/logo-designing/ too, thank you!
This is a really good one! I love the simplicity and clear message. Great job!
This is craazzzyy brilliant!! wow!
I organize weddings and events, and I can see clearly that your logo fit in the business, very Appealing and fun, cheers.
I am more than honored to find my work in %22follow logo trends 2009%22:http://www.graphicdesignblog.org/follow-logo-trends-2009/ graphicdesignblog's article too. Thank you all for your comments and support!
Well! Unity is strength and the brand!
Tass, this has a very effective use of color without going overboard%3B it brings attention to the areas that need to be memorable. Very, very nice work in my opinion.
Thank you all again for your comments and floats!
I'm surprised I haven't commented on this yet. This is an staple of logo design. Really amazing work.
Thank you all for your comments, floats, links and everything, really honored about all of them.
nicely done, wish I had a tie like that!
Thank you! :) Maybe the portrait arrangement?
I like the logo. It also looks like another logo i know. Not that this matters. ;-) cheers!


text:
Ladyhawke announces November 2012 UK tour
Pip Brown is following this spring's sold-out tour with another clutch of shows for the autumn - we'll have tickets on sale Friday 14th September
It's been four years since Pip Brown emerged from the Antipodes with a canon of just-add-hot-water 21st century pop hits, not least the tireless Top Shop classic My Delirium. Influenced musically and stylistically by childhood hero Chrissie Hynde, by time spent listening to the Beatles and by a whole host of pop culture references, not least the band name taken from Richard Donner's 1985 film starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Brown's lively electro-pop swept all before it.
And at a time when the world was embracing Little Boots, Florence Welch and La Roux, making it onto playlists was no mean feat. But Ladyhawke had an ace up her biker jacketed sleeve - a selection of completely ace pop tunes. The self-titled debut record was a No 1 back home in New Zealand and made the Top 20 here. Such was the unexpected success of the formula she'd found, Brown didn't get round to releasing a follow-up until this year, with May's Anxiety.
Taking up where she left off, Anxiety outperformed the debut in the US, checking in to the Heatseekers countdown at an impressive No 12. And after a sold-out spring tour, Ladyhawke is returning to the UK later this year.
Ladyhawke's autumn jaunt kicks off in Brighton on 5th November, followed by UK dates in Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester, before the final gig announced so far at the Forum in London on 14th November 2012. We will have tickets available from 9am on Friday 14th September.
Stewart Darkin
Tuesday, 11th Sep 2012
ChemicalBroth...
EchoAndTheBun...
TheCharlatans
This Month:The Week Ahead with Tegan and Sara, Wilkinson, Al Murray, Taking Back Sunday, Trivium, Madeleine Peyroux and more
Sep 2016:Fat Friday: Kraftwerk, The Stone Roses, Iron Maiden, Two Door Cinema Club, Jimmy Eat World, Joe Bonamassa and more
May 2016:The Week Ahead with Isle of Wight Festival, Download, Field Day, Tom Jones, Elton John, Barry Manilow and more
Mar 2016:Fat Friday: Radiohead, Stevie Wonder, Jean-Michel Jarre, The Summer Series, Meltdown Festival, Placebo and more


If there is one thing you can expect in life, it is the unexpected. Things that you don't expect are often sent to you to shift your life to where it's meant to go. Embrace any unexpected change and you'll find that things come to you at the perfect time. Be wary of any attachment to any vision you have of the future. The biggest favor you can do for yourself amidst a major shift of your life is to relinquish control to the universe. This may seem difficult to do at first, but surrendering and letting go of any fears surrounding change is key to working with the universe to manifest positive outcomes in your favor.
A shift is a gift that is meant to help you grow and to experience things that will help you along your journey. Sometimes our lives are meant to be shaken, rearranged, and adjusted to bring us to decisions we need to make and places we need to be. Once the dust settles, it becomes easier to see the blessings you otherwise wouldn't have experienced without a shift in your world. Life has a way of working itself out. Shift happens, and when it does, enjoy the wonderful, synchronistic ride.


text:
Cracked Apple
It took 24 hours for a team of hackers known iPhone Development Team to hack just presented the operating system version iOS 5 of mobile gadgets Apple.
Hacking the OS - the so-called jailbreak – is a kind of sport: thus the opponents of Apple strategy, to close access to their own devices for applications from other vendors, express their protest. Regular user considers this as a risky procedure, but technically advanced jailbreak gives more opportunities and control over iPad or iPhone. People who can benefit from its results, are relatively few - IT-experts estimate that audience at 10 per cent of the owners of "apple" gadgets.
Incidentally, this principled opponents of Apple has created a store, very similar to a trademark App Store, but all the applications it offers run only on hacked Technology Apple (its volume - about 20,000 applications, compared to 90 thousand in the App Store, but they are free). And he called the store in honor of harmful caterpillars living on apple trees, - Cydia. As a result, among 200 million iOS units sold by Apple, 20 million – are hacked, and use its applications. It turns out that users have made respectable 14 billion downloads from official App Store, but could - 15,6 billion, if not jailbreak. And instead of 2.5 billion dollars from the sale of applications, Apple would have earned 2.8 billion.
Shortage - this is certainly a shame. But the "cracked" goods are popular among either " dissentients", or supporters of the freebie. But neither those nor the other are the target audience for Apple.


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Messages Of Untruth Reconsidered
"In order to understand more it is imperative that we improve our knowledge before choosing which side of the fence we feel compelled to belong." (J.P. Robinson)
You might have fallen in in love with a beautiful mermaid. Or perhaps you could profess holding a meaningful conversation with a leprechaun, elf, or even a green headed space alien. The list of possibilities for alternative truth thus seemed endless at the annual indoor convention of the "Flights of Imagination Society" held during the second week of November in Memphis, Tennessee. You might wonder then what were these predominately unmasked participants like, that so fervently dedicated their vacation time to redefine their own realities of life during this "electric" vibe spectacle. As I curiously strolled amid the energized crowd during the three day festivities, I can share with you some captivating observations where seemingly no one was "playing possum" with their deep seated beliefs.
You might know then the majority of the attendees I met led seemingly routine lives on the surface as tax paying, middle class Americans. Yet underlying such apparent normality, it became clear to me upon closer inspection that an intense level of distrust in scientific fact and established truth pervaded the crowd atmosphere here. On several occasions on the floor of the indoor auditorium, for instance, I noted how so many of them vocally expressed their discontent with scouring traditional sources of information like printed newspapers and electronic social media. It follows from these conversations that they accordingly foresaw no drawbacks in subscribing to alternative dogma supportive of extremist cults and conspiracy theories prevailing amid the country today.
Let's examine a few individuals more deeply that I conversed with in perusing the various promotional exhibits during these sessions. I thus vividly recall Mary and John, two backwoods rebels in Maine, who swore blind rejection of science in feverish praise, while boldly stating as well that they believed a species of reptilian lizards was currently running a dysfunctional government in this country. Then there was Glenn and Joe from Alabama, whose extreme right wing advocacy as part of the "Bringum Boys" movement publicized that public school children were being poisoned by morning juice boxes that turned them "gay." Of final note, I reveal my intimate conversation with old timers Wendell and Allie, two devout Christian ranchers from Texas, whose spiritual compass revealed to me a belief in their "flesh and blood" conversation at a crop- circles field with the physical presence of God.
On the last day of the convention, an unexpected event happened that severely impacted the closing proceedings. For on that fateful Saturday morning of November 9th, a "dead silence" ensued in the auditorium upon hearing media reports that the current President of the States had been defeated in the present election. But what happened after that moment can be best described as pure chaos as vengeful shouts of anger intensified amid the stunned throng throughout the remainder of that morning. I slowly concluded then how deeply revered the dethroned "King of Conspiracy Theory" had been to so many of these mutinous disobeyers of fact at this festival. Great optimism exploded in my mind for I now realized that today's victory for truth and reason would become the correct path for healing my county's current woes in the years ahead.
Beyond Feast Intended
My Florida Keys Transition
13 thoughts on "Messages Of Untruth Reconsidered"
Great post. I'm still amazed that so many people in this country lost their ability to use simple deductive reasoning skills. Early in elementary school we teach children the difference between fact and fiction. We show them various examples and they learn to understand what is real and what is not. What can factually be proven and what cannot. Alternate realities are not the truth. But, Incredibly a huge part of our society decided that if the President had an alternative way of thinking they could too. I'm still baffled that so many were sucked in. I mean I can tell myself I'm 25 all I want but that ship sailed a very long time ago. I'd like to spend money like a millionaire does but if I do I'll lose my home and be living on the streets. And last year when I was told I had stage three ovarian cancer if I pretended my doctor was talking nonsense and science was wrong, I'd be dead.
The only place alternative reality works is in works of fiction. Because real life isn't easy, it hurt sometimes, it's not always fun, and it's really, really hard. We don't have control over everything in real life situations.
I too hope this country can not only heal, but take off its blinders and once again see the morning light with total clarity. Truth is not always pretty. But it's real and it's the truth! And we need the truth in order to move forward.
Leslie: You and I know how deeply critical thinking matters being teachers. You've obviously found facing the truth matters in your recovery.
Yes so true. Perhaps being teachers allowed us to recognize fact from fiction more easily than others. But I still struggle to understand why rational people allowed a buffoon to cloud their thinking. Unless sadly, it was racism that encouraged and fueled so many of his supporters. And yes, the truth does help in dealing with illness. At least it did for me. And I find it also helps in appreciating and valuing life.
I'm still curious as to where all the anger came from in Trump supporters. No mask, no diversity… no reasoning…I don't get it. They never seemed content with anything so they just made up their own reality. The thing is… I love science fiction and fantasy too. In fact I'm reading a fun paranormal holiday mystery right now. Fantasy is awesome when you read about it. The trick is to know when something is fiction. And politics is real!
You know Jim, My boys loved magic tricks when they were little. They both were pretty good at card tricks and Johnny enjoyed playing magician and wearing a hat and cape to add to the whole affect. But they both understood that magic was filled with slight of hand tricks and fooling their audience. Even as children they knew it wasn't real.
I sure hope Joe and Kamala can undo the bigotry and fear created by 45 so rationality can once again rule!
Lightness Traveling says:
At the risk of sounding like an actuarial statistician, I think there's simply a sort of normal distribution upon which most people are experientially forced to accept reality and pile into the center. But there's always that third standard deviation that accounts for about 5% of the population. They're not all on the right either, though the current carnival-of-mirrors has certainly propped open the doors to that particular asylum while passing off ideological intoxication as therapy.
That said, the world of a paranoid schizophrenic is no less "real" to that person than that of a scientist, engineer, or mathematician… or for that matter, any well-indoctrinated zealot. It's just that normal experiences, for those of us allowed to have them anyway, tend to gather the majority of survivors around the things that actually work… like vaccines and airliners (at least those designed and created by scientists and engineers as opposed to corporate CEOs… and actuarial statisticians).
CalicoJack says:
Howdy Lightness!
I'm sure that it is no more than 5% of the total population that seriously believes in the lizard-people conspiracy and they're turning the frogs gay conspiracy and other outlandish ideas, but 72 million people voted for four more years of #COVID19 malpractice and blatant corruption. That's about 20% of the population. They may not all go in for everything that Trump has said or done, but they looked at their choice in Election 2020 and said give me four more years of this because we don't want Biden. I've worked really hard at figuring out the psychology behind it, but for the life me, I cannot adequately explain it. It makes no sense.
Jack, That's exactly the thing I don't understand either. I really tried in the very beginning of Trump's presidency to give him a chance. To give him the benefit of the doubt even when all he did was spitefully try to undo every good thing Obama accomplished. But when he step by step decided to destroy our environment and pollute the atmosphere, or take away park lands, destroy health care etc. I stopped giving him leeway. The final straw with his unconscionable act of tearing children from their parents was a Nazi like tactic and incredibly it was ignored by countless Baby boomers whose parents fought in WWll. How can you explain their acceptance of such an act? I'm glad my father wasn't alive to see that the purple heart and other medals of honor he received were basically spit on by This President and half the nation. How do you dignify making white supremacists very fine people? Lunacy is lunacy. Morality has common sense boundaries. I've taught students about mob rule, mob mentality in literature. I've read about it in the history books. But I did not expect to witness it in my lifetime. Nope. There is no reasonable, logical, moral, understanding of how any decent human being could actually vote for such a monster. And yet countless folks did. I wonder what part of their souls died to turn their hearts to stone and their brains to mush? I will never ever understand the cruelty that enveloped part of our nation.
Howdy Lesley!
I feel your pain and anguish. I can neither understand or forgive my fellow Americans without them asking for forgiveness. My only explanation is that they are trapped in some real cognitive deviltry consisting of cognitive dissonance and motivated reasoning. It is a thick wall of defense they've built around themselves too considering how many are now dying of #COVID19 wheezing at the end that it wasn't possible because it is all a hoax.
Well howdy back Calico! And it doesn't make any sense to me neither! As long as we have a system that allows only for voting for the "least bad" of each party's anointed profiteers, I can at least understand the sense of short-term desperation caused by the house-of-mirrors that surrounds the utterly bogus campaigning that goes on in this country. I don't necessarily agree with my Trump-voting friends, but I do listen to them… Filipinos who think their hard work won't be respected, conservative Catholic Latinos who remember relatives being deported under Obama, Taiwanese who think Biden will sell them out… and of course that guy driving the smoking pickup with the flag on the hitch who just wants to be allowed to marry his guns. No lizard people… though admittedly one person who worries about "chemtrails". And in this state, we can still vote for "None of these candidates", which I suspect the most sane 1% of voters here did.
Me… I'm just mostly worried that Biden will die in office and that we'll get the political equivalent of a breast-implant — superficially impressive, but fake. America needs to be looking farther forward, toward a long-term solution. God (or whatever) help us all if four years from now an economically and politically flailing America sees voters having to choose between more of that, or a returned-from-the-dead senile-zombie version of our current Boob-in-Chief. Yikes!
Thank you for giving m some estimated statistics on this problem. Reality Media attention no doubt tends to inflate how many actually believe in conspiracies this way.
Howdy James!
I should take some time to look up some longitudinal studies of these kinds of aberrant (or do I mean abhorrent or maybe it is both?) beliefs. All conspiracy theories have a lifespan within individual adherents. Eventually, reality intrudes and disproves the belief no matter how many others believe it, too. Of course, that was before the advent of social media and easy access to media companies.
I'm reminded of a story I heard about Albania during its time under Hoxha and later Alia, the best Albanians could expect was a 40 watt light bulb and small blank-and-white TV sets. They were told this was the best anyone had it anywhere in the world. After the country opened up, people were crushed realizing that they were the poorest country in Europe and everyone else had so much more.
No one can keep the world out forever. I wonder how long these people maintain their beliefs.
But what is America's excuse for this, Jack? We should know better.
I've worked on answering the question about the psycological factors that drive MAGAs over on the Psy of Life. I began back in 2016 with a post trying to answer this question and added to it over the years. The latest post is Election 2020: Understanding Trump Voters. I also address the seeming death wish that MAGAs have as they lay dying of #COVID19 and deny the existence of the coronavirus with their last wheezes, The Death Drive of MAGAs and Trump's Narcissistic Destructiveness Make a National Nightmare. What it tells you is that the psychology behind it is powerful.
The combination of the persuasive design used by both social media platforms and mass media like Fox News combines with the ingroup tendencies of political and ethnic identification and is reinforced through social support. Once you've got the initial commitment, motivated reasoning and cognitive dissonance takes over and keeps people immersed.
But given the dimensions of the #COVID19 pandemic and frontal assault on democracy, I can't believe that anyone would accept this from Trump or the GOP.
`As Hitler did Jack, if you say it enough times, people will come to believe anything. I see this as a war of attrition similar to Grant's siege at Vicksburg.


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Chipotle faces lawsuit over overtime pay dispute
USA TODAY—Sophia Tulp
A lawsuit seeking class-action status was filed against Chipotle Mexican Grill alleging the fast-food chain failed to adequately compensate some employees for overtime work under a federal rule that went into effect late last year.
The lawsuit, filed this week in U.S. District Court in New Jersey, alleges the company failed to pay overtime to employees under the new overtime rule issued by the Labor Department last year — and that it's not the only one.
"For conscientious employers, a suit like this reminds them that the rule is in effect and that they should be paying overtime," Sellers said. "I don't fully understand the mind-set that has given rise to this broad belief that companies are not bound by this."
At the core of the suit is the rule that made more employees eligible for overtime pay. It required employers to pay overtime to any worker who earned up to $47,476. Previously, the companies only had to pay overtime to workers making $23,660 or less.
But in late November, shortly before the rule went into effect Dec. 1, a Texas court put enforcement of it on hold so employers didn't have to pay overtime to workers who had the higher salary threshold. The lawsuit says Chipotle should be required to continue to pay overtime despite the injunction of enforcement of the rule by the Texas court. It contends the Texas injunction did not apply to private employers and the overtime rule would stay in effect until the court issues its final ruling.
The lead plaintiff is a worker named Carmen Alvarez, who was training to become a general manager at a Chipotle restaurant, known as an "apprentice" within the chain. She was working about 10 overtime hours a week and was earning a total of about $43,082 a year, but was denied overtime pay when the injunction was issued.
Tim Trujillo, a human resources consultant who founded Focus HR in Tehachapi, Calif., said even if the lawsuit was to win in court, it might not be around for much longer if the Trump administration chooses to roll back the rule.
The Labor Department "will probably be reviewing and deciding whether they want to go forward with the same regulations" that came during the Obama administration, Trujillo said.


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26.10.202002:14 Forex Analysis & Reviews: Overview of the EUR/USD pair. October 26. Americans don't vote for Joe Biden. They vote either for Trump or against Trump. The dollar remains under market pressure.
4-hour timeframe
Higher linear regression channel: direction - downward.
Lower linear regression channel: direction - upward.
Moving average (20; smoothed) - upward.
CCI: 81.2937
During the last trading day of the past week, the EUR/USD pair completed a correction near the moving average line, bounced off it, and resumed its upward movement. Thus, at the moment, we can say that the upward trend for the pair remains, but at the same time, we once again note that the price continues to move in the most long-term plan inside the side channel of $1.17-$1.19 (or 1.1640-1.1920). Thus, in the next few days, there may be a downward reversal and a resumption of the downward movement to the lower line of channel 1.1700. Accordingly, it is still impossible to talk about a full-scale trend now. Rather, these are micro-trends inside the side channel. Of course, the flat won't last forever. It will be completed sooner or later. If the pair's quotes manage to overcome the upper line of the channel, then a new full-fledged upward trend may begin to form. However, we still doubt that market participants will rush to buy the euro for no apparent fundamental reasons near its two-year highs. As for the US currency, we still do not consider its growth possible and probable before the elections on November 3.
There was very little news on Friday. By and large, the markets are already fully focused on the upcoming elections, as well as the candidates themselves and the entire country. At least, all other topics that worried traders and forced them to trade are put on pause. All three rounds of the debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden have passed (except for the canceled second), so a week before the election, none of the candidates will be able to influence their political ratings. Although, by and large, none of the candidates has done anything in recent weeks to change these very ratings. We believe that if both presidential candidates had gone on vacation a couple of months ago, the balance of power a week before the election would have been the same as it is now. The fact is that Trump has already said everything he could say and do everything he could do. The "coronavirus" pandemic, which the US president treated from the very first day as a cold, constant statement about COVID-2019, which was criticized, refuted by all doctors, epidemiologists, and virologists. Yes, even ordinary Americans who do not have a medical education understand that more than 200,000 people do not die from cold in six months. Every American understands that the whole world is dealing with an epidemic. Only Donald Trump, who continues to make absurd statements with enviable regularity, does not understand this. For example, this weekend, he said at a campaign rally in Florida that "they (the government) are going to put a quick end to this pandemic". Earlier, Trump promised a vaccine. He also said that the virus will evaporate and disappear on its own, will not survive the summer, and so on. All of Trump's other "merits" stem from the pandemic. Record-breaking economic decline, record-high unemployment, total inability to work as a team with the Democrats. And also, a trade war with China, in which it is the United States that is losing. Thus, in four years, Trump has shown himself as president from all sides and most Americans do not even need new promises about the "Golden Age". They saw firsthand all of Trump's work and its consequences. As for Joe Biden, he didn't have to do anything at all. All he had to do was not make mistakes, not make unsubstantiated statements, and criticize Trump for a whole lot of mistakes he made. That's the whole recipe for winning the election. Of course, Biden hasn't won anything yet. However, all opinion polls continue to show record ratings for the Democratic presidential candidate.
Well, Trump can only continue to do what he did for four years. Criticize the media, try to blame others, or pretend that nothing terrible has happened, and a bright future awaits everyone, of course, with him at the head of the country. A week before the election, Trump recalled the activities of Hunter Biden and Joe Biden in Ukraine and China. Earlier, he failed to play the same card. No evidence of the Bidens' illegal activities was found, and there was not even a specific reason to launch an investigation. However, Trump continues to "trash" this card, trying to squeeze at least some dividends out of it. At first, he called on the FBI to launch an investigation against the presidential candidate and his son and to put both in prison. After that, he began to criticize the media for not covering the topic of Biden's corruption schemes enough and trying to hide them. At the same time, according to Trump, the media pays a lot of attention to the COVID pandemic, only scaring citizens.
Meanwhile, more and more foreign media support the view that the US election is not the election of Trump or Biden. This is the election of Trump or not Trump. In other words, the American people will decide whether they want Trump as the head of state, and if they don't, it doesn't matter who the other president is. We have repeatedly encountered this idea in one form or another. We have previously drawn parallels with the UK parliamentary elections that took place in December last year. Then the conservatives won by a large margin. We were and still believe that the British did not vote for the conservatives or labor. They voted for or against Brexit. Since it was the conservatives who proposed an early end to Brexit, that's why Boris Johnson's party won. It may be the same in America now. Biden can win, not because the Americans support him, but because they don't want new problems with Trump.
Well, for the US currency in terms of prospects, nothing has changed yet. Before the election, that is, at least a week, it is unlikely that the US dollar will become more expensive. It is possible, but only within the side channels that we discussed above. No one knows what will happen after the elections and when they will end at all. Therefore, any further plans and strategies should be made after the election is over and the results are announced.
The volatility of the euro/dollar currency pair as of October 26 is 74 points and is characterized as "average". Thus, we expect the pair to move today between the levels of 1.1786 and 1.1934. A downward reversal of the Heiken Ashi indicator may signal a new round of downward correction.
Nearest support levels:
S1 – 1.1841
Nearest resistance levels:
R1 – 1.1902
Trading recommendations:
The EUR/USD pair resumed its upward movement. Thus, today it is recommended to stay in buy orders with targets of 1.1902 and 1.1934 as long as the Heiken Ashi indicator is directed upwards. It is recommended to consider sell orders if the pair returns to the area below the moving average line with a target of 1.1719.
Paolo Greco,


text:
Photo credit - IU Athletics
Bahamas rewind: Observations on Rob Phinisee's play during IU basketball's foreign tour
For the first time in his IU career, Rob Phinisee has serious competition at the point guard position. But even if the presence of Xavier Johnson means Phinisee is likely to see the floor less in 2021-22, he still might be a better player than who we've seen to this point. There are several reasons why, and Phinisee believes Johnson is actually one of them.
"Just being able to guard him at practice, he's super dynamic, super quick," Phinisee said of Johnson right before The Bahamas trip. "I feel like there's not a lot of Big Ten guards like him once we get to playing."
In the first game at the Atlantis on Friday night, Phinisee entered the game quickly off the bench in the first half with Johnson in foul trouble, and he really did look like a new player on both ends of the floor. At times Phinisee has been too passive on the offensive end, but he pushed the pace in transition and played with an attacking mindset in the half court. BC Mega's defenders struggled mightily to stay in front of him and in many ways there seemed to be no drop off from Johnson as Phinisee looked as aggressive as ever. Phinisee also defended at a very high level. Fully healthy and often picking up the ball full court, BC Mega never got comfortable in their offense, and with Phinisee in the game IU started to pull away. He was +10 in the plus/minus at halftime.
But there were times on Sunday, especially during a first half scoring drought, where Phinisee seemed to take his foot off the gas offensively as he has been known to do. With BC Mega more determined to slow IU's transition attack, Phinisee didn't attack as aggressively and let BC Mega dictate the game's pace.
After an early 12-2 IU lead, BC Mega closed to within 26-25 as the Hoosiers scored just eight points in nearly eight minutes. Most of that stretch was with Phinisee in the game, and it was a span where the senior point guard wasn't looking to get downhill and get to the paint.
Those are precisely the stretches Phinisee needs to avoid if he wants to take step forward this year. And the reason that particular span was concerning is that it very much had the feel of both a physical, half court Big Ten game — and the way IU has struggled offensively in those game over the last few years. Collectively, Indiana was stagnant offensively, didn't impose their will, and Phinisee couldn't drag them out of the mud. He was better in the second half but the team was still -5 in the points column on the day with Phinisee on the court compared to Johnson's +24.
But it doesn't make too much sense to dwell on what Phinisee didn't do at times as a playmaker when he produced nine assists against just three turnovers overall in the two games. You'll take that production all day long, especially if we are talking about the backup point guard. And that two-game performance was on the heels of a six assist, zero turnover effort in a closed scrimmage in Bloomington.
So Phinisee is taking care of the ball and setting up his teammates. He just needs to keep pushing the envelope in terms of being aggressive — while not sacrificing too much ball security. Maybe what we saw was the engima that Phinisee has always been at IU, or perhaps he is a work-in-process, still exorcising the demons of Archie Miller's offense. We will have to wait until November to know for sure.
If there was really something to concern yourself with when it came to Phinisee's weekend it was his shooting performance. He said he came into the trip more relaxed and confident in head coach Mike Woodson's system, and Woodson seemed to agree. But Phinisee's 2-for-12 tally from the field including an 0-for-4 effort from behind-the-arc leaves you wondering.
On the plus side Phinisee genuinely looked confident shooting the basketball. There were no "what the heck was that" airball moments, and you expected his shots to go in until they didn't. There is no reason to count Phinisee out until he plays his last game in an IU uniform, but it is reasonable to wonder if it will ever click for the career 36 percent shooter.
Phinisee's defense doesn't need much elaboration. As most Indiana fans know by now, he has excellent lateral quickness and is very effective guarding the ball.
Veteran BC Mega point guard Scoochie Smith was just 5-of-15 from the field with 7 turnovers over the two games. Obviously Johnson had a hand in those numbers, but Phinisee was every bit as impactful on the defensive end, if not better.
I can't base it on anything specific, but I have a suspicion that Woodson's more aggressive defense with a little less thinking in the half court is going to make Phinisee an even better defender. Perhaps he'll even benefit by having fresher legs due to playing less minutes. It at least seems clear that IU is going to be a menace on the ball for 40 minutes.
Also, for what it's worth, that picture at the top wasn't just a lucky shot. I've been around Phinisee a lot over the last three years, and I've never seen him more loose and happy than what I saw over the last week, on and off the court. Perhaps it was just because it is August and he was in The Bahamas. But maybe like Trayce Jackson-Davis said, there is a whole new vibe on this team.
The bottom line is this when it comes to the Lafayette product. Even Phinisee does end up being the backup point guard, Indiana fans should feel pretty good about that. Few teams are going to have a better primary ball handler and on the ball defender coming off the bench.
If it turns out that way, Rob Phinisee vs. everyone else's backup point guard should prove to be a major advantage for Indiana.
ROB PHINISEE'S STATS IN THE BAHAMAS
Game one: 12 minutes, 4 points, 1-6 FG, 0-2 3FG, 2-2 FT, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnover, 0 blocks, 1 steals
Game two: 17 minutes, 2 points, 1-6 FG, 0-2 3FG, 0-0 FT, 1 rebounds, 6 assists, 0 turnovers, 0 blocks, 0 steals
Averages: 14.5 minutes, 3.0 points, 16.7% FG, 0.0% 3 FG, 100% FT, 2.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 turnovers, 0 blocks, .5 steals
See also: Rob Phinisee changing his game ahead of critical season


text:
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Apache :: How to compile self created Apache module under windows?
Posted: Thu 22 Mar '18 19:43 Post subject: How to compile self created Apache module under windows?
How to compile a self created Apache module under windows in repeatable batch mode (without using a tool that I have to compile with a tool that I have to compile first)?
mod_example_1.c(13): error C2143: Syntaxfehler: Es fehlt ";" vor "="
mod_example_1.c(13): error C2054: After "module" must follow "("
mod_example_1.c(13): error C2143: Syntax error: ";" is missing, before "="
What do I miss? ...and also where is 'module' defined as I could not find it in the list of c-reserved words and according to my windows search not in any h-file in my apache-include-folder?
If I did post to the wrong forum category please let me know - I am really not sure if I got that right.


text:
Lita to make in-ring return vs Mickie James at WWE Evolution
Lita lost her last match against Mickie James in 2006 at Survivor Series.
India Today Web Desk
UPDATED: September 5, 2018 11:17 IST
Lita lost her last match against Mickie James in 2006 at Survivor Series (WWE Photo)
Lita will return to the ring after a gap of 12 years
She lost her retirement match to Mickie James at Survivor Series in 2006
WWE Evolution will be a women's only pay-per-view
Lita will make her in-ting return when she takes on former foe Mickie James at World Wrestling Entertainment's women only pay-per-view Evolution om October 28 at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.
The two have been a part of fantastic bouts in the pasy and have a total of 10 women's championships among them -- with Lita winning four and Mickie earning six.
The last time they met, Mickie won over Lita in the latter's retirement match back in 2006 at Survivor Series.
However, Mickie is likely to have a slight edge over the veteran as she is still wrestling and is a regular in pay-per-views and Monday Night RAW.
BREAKING: @WWE Hall of Famer @AmyDumas will return to the ring at #WWEEvolution to square off against former rival and 6-TIME #WomensChampion @MickieJames! https://t.co/h5pBEWGfb7
WWE (@WWE) September 4, 2018
A match between Trish Stratus and Alex Bliss have also been booked in the pay-per-view while women's championship matches from Raw, SmackDown LIVE, NXT and NXT UK, as well as the final of the second annual Mae Young Classic 2018 will also take place in the historic event.
Follow Lita
Follow Mickie James
Follow WWE
Follow WWE Evolution


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text:
\section{Introduction}
\label{sec:intro}
In general, nuclear properties like decay half-lives and radiation widths do
not depend on the electronic environment of the atomic nucleus. However, there
are several well-known exceptions. Obviously, electron capture decays are
affected by the number of available electrons, in particular $K$-electrons,
and thus the $K$-capture half-life depends on the ionization of the atom. A
second example are low-energy $\gamma$ -transitions where the decay widths are
enhanced by additional conversion electrons. The present study focuses on
further effects that may affect nuclear transitions in a hot and dense plasma
that is found in the interior of stars: inelastic and superelastic electron
scattering and nuclear excitation by electron capture (NEEC)
\cite{Doo78,Gos07}; NEEC is the inverse process of the above mentioned
internal conversion (IC). Furthermore, even nuclear excitation by electron
transition (NEET) \cite{Mor04} may be important if matching conditions can be
achieved.

As will be shown in this study, $\gamma$ -transitions with relatively low energies
far below 1\,MeV are most affected by the surrounding hot and dense
plasma. Typical $\gamma$ -transition energies for (n,$\gamma$) , (p,$\gamma$) , and ($\alpha$,$\gamma$)\ capture
reactions are of the order of 1\,MeV and higher and are thus not significantly
affected by the stellar plasma. However, low-energy $\gamma$ -transitions play an
important role in the production and destruction of low-lying isomers in the
astrophysical s-process . There are two astrophysically relevant examples for
heavy odd-odd nuclei where low-lying isomers exist because of the huge
difference of the $K$-quantum number between the ground state and the isomer:
$^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta . The astrophysical transition rates between the low-$K$\ and
high-$K$\ states in $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta\ may be affected by the temperature dependence
of the individual transitions.

The interesting astrophysical properties of $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta\ will not be
repeated here. The s-process\ nucleosynthesis of $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{176}$Hf and the
interpretation of the $^{176}$Hf/$^{176}$Lu\ ratio as s-process\ thermometer are
discussed in several recent papers (see \cite{Heil08,Mohr09,Gin09}, and
references therein). The open question on the nucleosynthetic origin of
$^{180}$Ta\ in various processes (s-process , r-process , p-process\ or $\gamma$-process,
$\nu$-process) and the survival probability of the $9^-$ isomer under the
corresponding conditions was also studied recently (see \cite{Mohr07} and
references therein).

The main subject of the present study is the temperature dependence of
individual transitions from an initial state $i$ to a final state $f$. This
general
temperature dependence should not be mixed up with the temperature dependence
of the stellar transition rates between low-$K$\ states and high-$K$\ states in
$^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta\ that are defined by low-lying so-called intermediate states and
their decay properties -- i.e.\ all possible transitions from these
intermediate states. It is obvious that changes in the individual transitions
-- as studied in this work -- do also affect the stellar transition rates.

The paper is organized as follows. In Sect.~\ref{sec:rate} some introductory
remarks on the nuclear structure of isomers are given, and the stellar
reaction rate between low-$K$\ states and high-$K$\ states is defined. In
Sect.~\ref{sec:mod} the temperature dependence of individual transitions is
discussed. Results for selected individual transitions in $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta\ are
presented in Sect.~\ref{sec:res}, and their influence on the stellar
transition rate is discussed. Finally, conclusions are drawn in
Sect.~\ref{sec:summ}. As usual, we will give the ``temperature'' in units of
keV, i.e.\ the temperature $T$ is multiplied by the Boltzmann constant $k$
leading to the thermal energy $kT$.

\section{Stellar reaction rates}
\label{sec:rate}
\subsection{Nuclear structure}
\label{sec:struc}
The approximate conservation of the $K$-quantum number leads to a strong
suppression of direct transitions between so-called low-$K$\ and high-$K$\ states in
heavy nuclei. As a consequence, the low-$K$\ $J^\pi = 1^-;K = 0$ state in
$^{176}$Lu\ at $E_x = 123$\,keV practically cannot decay to the high-$K$\ $7^-;7$ ground
state. Instead, the low-$K$\ $1^-;0$ state forms an isomer that $\beta$-decays
with a half-life of $t_{1/2} = 3.66$\,h to $^{176}$Hf. The $\beta$-decay of
the $7^-;7$ ground state is also highly suppressed and has a long half-life of
about 38 giga-years, i.e.\ it is practically stable for the timescale of the
astrophysical s-process .  In $^{180}$Ta\ the roles of the ground state and the isomer
are exchanged: the low-$K$\ $1^+;1$ state is the ground state and has a short
$\beta$-decay half-life of about $8.15$\,h whereas the high-$K$\ $9^-;9$ isomer at
$E_x = 77$\,keV is quasi-stable with $t_{1/2} > 7.1 \times 10^{15}$\,yr
\cite{Hul06}. Excitation energies, spins and parities, half-lives, and decay
properties are in most cases taken from the online data base ENSDF
\cite{ENSDF} that is based on \cite{Bas06} for $^{176}$Lu\ and \cite{Wu03} for $^{180}$Ta
; other data sources are stated explicitly.

Because of the strong suppression of direct transitions between the low-$K$\ and
the high-$K$\ states, two species (a low-$K$\ one and a high-$K$\ one) of such nuclei
like $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta\ have to be considered in nucleosynthesis calculations
(see e.g.\ \cite{Heil08}). Within each species, thermal equilibrium is
obtained on timescales of far below one second (e.g.\ explicitly shown in
\cite{Gin09} for $^{176}$Lu ). However, indirect transitions
between the low-$K$\ and the high-$K$\ states are possible via
so-called intermediate states (IMS) that are located at higher excitation
energies and have intermediate $K$-quantum numbers. Such IMS have been
detected experimentally by high-resolution $\gamma$ -ray spectroscopy for
$^{176}$Lu\ \cite{Klay91a,Klay91b,Les91,Pet92,Dra10}, and an indirect proof for the
existence of IMS was obtained from various photoactivation studies
\cite{Ver70,Wat81,Nor85,Carr89,Carr91,Lak91,Lak95a,Lak95b,Van00,Kn05}. A
review of the results for $^{176}$Lu\ is given in \cite{Mohr09}. For $^{180}$Ta\ only
indirect evidence for the existence of IMS was derived from photoactivation
\cite{Bel99,Bel02,Lak00,Car89,Col88,Col90,Nem92,Nor84,Bik99,Sch94,Sch98,Loe96,Sch01,Loe03}. A
direct detection of IMS by $\gamma$ -spectroscopy was not possible up to now, see
e.g. \cite{Dra98,Sai99,Dra00,Wen01}.

\subsection{Definition of astrophysical reaction rates}
\label{sec:def}
The stellar transition rate $\lambda^\ast$ for transitions from the
low-$K$\ to the high-$K$\ species of heavy nuclei is approximately given by
\begin{eqnarray}
\lambda^\ast(T) & = &
\int c \, n_\gamma(E,T) \, \sigma(E) \, dE \nonumber \\
& \approx &
c \sum_i n_\gamma(E_{IMS,i},T) \, I^\ast_\sigma(E_{IMS,i})
\label{eq:lam}
\end{eqnarray}
with the thermal photon density
\begin{equation}
n_\gamma(E,T) =
  \left( \frac{1}{\pi} \right)^2 \,
  \left( \frac{1}{\hbar c} \right)^3 \,
  \frac{E^2}{\exp{(E/kT)} - 1}
\label{eq:planck}
\end{equation}
and the energy-integrated cross section $I^\ast_\sigma$ under stellar
conditions for an IMS at excitation energy $E_{IMS}$
\begin{eqnarray}
I^\ast_\sigma & = & \int \sigma(E) \, dE
= \frac{2J_{IMS}+1}{2J_0+1} \,
\left(\frac{\pi \hbar c}{E_{IMS}}\right)^2 \, \times \nonumber \\
 & & \, \, \times \, \frac{\Gamma^\ast_{IMS \rightarrow
    {\rm{low-}}K}\, \Gamma^\ast_{IMS \rightarrow {\rm{high-}}K}}{\Gamma^\ast}
\label{eq:isig}
\end{eqnarray}
$\Gamma^\ast_{IMS \rightarrow{\rm{low-}}K}$ and $\Gamma^\ast_{IMS
  \rightarrow{\rm{high-}}K}$ are the total decay widths from the IMS to
low-$K$\ and to high-$K$\ states under stellar conditions (including all cascades),
$\Gamma^\ast = \Gamma^\ast_{IMS \rightarrow{\rm{low-}}K} + \Gamma^\ast_{IMS
  \rightarrow{\rm{high-}}K}$ is the total decay width, $J_{IMS}$ and $J_0$ are
the spins of the IMS and the initial state, and the energy $E_{IMS}$ is given
by the difference between the excitation energies of the IMS and the initial
state: $E_{IMS} = E_x(IMS) - E_0$. The factor $\Gamma^\ast_{IMS
  \rightarrow{\rm{low-}}K} \times \Gamma^\ast_{IMS \rightarrow{\rm{high-}}K} /
\Gamma^\ast$ in Eq.~(\ref{eq:isig}) may also be written as $b^\ast_{IMS
  \rightarrow{\rm{low-}}K} \times b^\ast_{IMS \rightarrow{\rm{high-}}K} \times
\Gamma^\ast$ where $b^\ast_{IMS \rightarrow{\rm{low-}}K}$ and $b^\ast_{IMS
  \rightarrow{\rm{high-}}K}$ are the total decay branchings of the IMS under
stellar conditions.

It is important to point out that the total decay widths (including all
cascades) to low-$K$\ and high-$K$\ states enter into Eq.~(\ref{eq:isig}). This is a
consequence of the thermal population of excited states under stellar
conditions; for details, see \cite{Mohr07,Mohr06}.

The stellar reaction rate $\lambda^\ast$ in Eq.~(\ref{eq:lam}) is given by the
sum over the integrated cross sections $I^\ast_\sigma$ of all IMS where the
contribution of each IMS is weighted by the number of thermal photons at the
corresponding excitation energy. Because of the exponential dependence of the
thermal photon density in Eq.~(\ref{eq:planck}), practically only very few
low-lying IMS do contribute to the sum in Eq.~(\ref{eq:lam}). In the
present study we restrict ourselves to the experimentally confirmed IMS
in $^{176}$Lu\ at 839\,keV and a further candidate at 725\,keV \cite{Gin09}; for
$^{180}$Ta\ we analyze the lowest IMS candidate at 594\,keV \cite{Mohr07}.

The stellar reaction rate $\lambda^\ast(T)$ is strongly temperature dependent
because of the roughly exponential factor $E^2/[\exp{(E/kT)} - 1]$ in
Eq.~(\ref{eq:planck}). In addition to this explicit temperature dependence
there is further implicit temperature dependence of $\lambda^\ast(T)$ because
the widths $\Gamma^\ast$ in Eq.~(\ref{eq:isig}) also depend on
temperature. This further temperature dependence will be discussed in detail
in the next Sect.~\ref{sec:mod}; see also Eq.~(\ref{eq:gammatemp}).

For the sake of clarity we will use the symbol $\lambda^\ast$ in units of
s$^{-1}$ only for the stellar reaction rate between low-$K$\ and high-$K$\ states in
Eq.~(\ref{eq:lam}); the symbol $\lambda$ will be used for transition rates
between levels or groups of levels (in the same $K$ group). Levels will be
further characterized by their lifetimes $\tau$ instead of their decay
constants $\lambda = 1/\tau$. All energies are given in keV.

\subsection{Transitions in $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta }
\label{sec:trans}

\subsubsection{$^{176}$Lu}
\label{sec:trans176}
A simplified level scheme of $^{176}$Lu\ is shown in
Fig.~\ref{fig:lu176level}. There is an experimentally confirmed IMS at
839\,keV, and a further candidate for an IMS at 725\,keV has been suggested
from the almost degeneracy of a low-$K$\ $7^-$ level and a high-$K$\ $7^-$ level
\cite{Gin09}. Very recently, new low-lying IMS have been found by coincidence
$\gamma$-spectroscopy \cite{Dra10}.
\begin{figure}[thbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm]{fig01.eps}
  \caption{
   (Color online)
   Partial level scheme of $^{176}$Lu\ with low-$K$\ states on the left and
   high-$K$\ states on the right. IMSs are indicated by blue lines over the full
   width of the diagram. The IMS at 839\,keV (full line) decays to low-$K$\ and
   to high-$K$\ states. Relative $\gamma$-ray branches $b^{\gamma,{\rm{rel}}}$
   normalized to the dominating ground state branching
   $b^{\gamma,{\rm{rel}}}_{839 \rightarrow 0} = 100$ are given for the IMS at
   839\,keV.  {\it{K}}-mixing\ of two neighboring $7^-$ levels at 724.7\,keV and
   725.2\,keV may lead to a further IMS \cite{Gin09}. New low-lying IMS have
   been identified in a $K=4$ band at 709\,keV, 787\,keV, and 889\,keV
   \cite{Dra10}. The dashed lines indicate IMS that are not studied in detail
   in this work.
   }
  \label{fig:lu176level}
\end{figure}

Here we analyze the experimentally confirmed IMS at 839\,keV and its decays to
the low-$K$\ levels at 723\,keV, 657\,keV, 635\,keV, and 596\,keV and to the
high-$K$\ levels at 564\,keV and 0\,keV (ground state). Further details of the
transitions are listed in Table \ref{tab:lu176trans}. There are
transitions in a wide range of energies for this IMS at 839\,keV. Thus,
conclusions can also be drawn for transitions from other IMS
\cite{Gin09,Dra10} without a further detailed analysis.
\begin{table}[htbp]
\caption{
Transitions in $^{176}$Lu (from \cite{ENSDF}).
\label{tab:lu176trans}
}
\begin{center}
\begin{tabular}{crcrcr}
\hline
$J^\pi_i;K$ & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$E_{x,i}$}
  & $J^\pi_f;K$ & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$E_{x,f}$}
  & transition & \multicolumn{1}{c}{$\Gamma^\gamma_{i \rightarrow f}$} \\
  & \multicolumn{1}{c}{(keV)} & & \multicolumn{1}{c}{(keV)} & &
\multicolumn{1}{c}{($\mu$eV)} \\
\hline
$5^-;4$ & 839 & $4^-;4$ & 723 & (M1) & 1.3\footnote{from $\Gamma^\gamma_{839 \rightarrow 0}$ and measured branching} \\
$5^-;4$ & 839 & $5^+;4$ & 657 & (E1)\footnote{tentative assignment} &
1.8\footnotemark[1] \\
$5^-;4$ & 839 & $4^+;4$ & 635 & (E1)\footnotemark[2] & 3.3\footnotemark[1] \\
$5^-;4$ & 839 & $4^-;1$ & 596 & (M1,E2)\footnotemark[2] & 0.3\footnotemark[1] \\
$5^-;4$ & 839 & $6^-;6$ & 564 & M1 & 6.5\footnotemark[1] \\
$5^-;4$ & 839 & $7^-;7$ & 0   & E2 & 50.0\footnote{assumed within the
  experimental errors; see text.} \\
$7^-;0$ & 725 & $5^-;0$ & 437 & E2 & 27.3\footnote{calculated value
  \cite{Gin09}}  \\
$7^-;6$ & 725 & $6^-;6$ & 564 & (M1) & 15.8\footnotemark[4] \\
\hline
\end{tabular}
\end{center}
\end{table}

A candidate for an IMS at 725\,keV has been suggested by \cite{Gin09}; the
suggestion is based on a theoretical study of {\it{K}}-mixing\ of two $7^-$ states at
724.7\,keV and 725.2\,keV with $K = 0$ and $K = 6$. The 725\,keV states decay
to the low-$K$\ state at 437\,keV and to the high-$K$\ state at 564\,keV.

Members of the $K=4$ band with its $4^+$ band head at 635\,keV have been
identified as IMS recently \cite{Dra10}. Weak branches to the high-$K$\ $7^-;7$
ground state have been found for the $6^+$, $7^+$, and $8^+$ members of this
band at 709\,keV, 787\,keV, and 889\,keV. The main decay branch from this
band goes to the low-$K$\ side. From the estimated transition strengths in
\cite{Dra10} it results that only the lowest IMS at 709\,keV may have
significant influence on the stellar transition rate $\lambda^\ast$.

Unfortunately, the lifetimes of the two $7^-$ states at 725\,keV are unknown,
and only lower and upper limits for the lifetime of the $5^-$ state at
839\,keV are available in literature. For the following discussion we take
$\Gamma^\gamma_{839 \rightarrow 0} = 50$\,$\mu$eV that corresponds to a
partial lifetime of $\tau_{839 \rightarrow 0} = 13.2$\,ps. This value is in
the experimental limits $10\,{\rm{ps}} \le \tau \le 433\,{\rm{ps}}$ for the
lifetime of the 839\,keV state because this state predominantly (branching
$\gtrsim 80\,\%$) decays by the $839 \rightarrow 0$ transition. In agreement
with the theoretical arguments in \cite{Doll99} and the experimental
photoactivation yields \cite{Van00,Kn05} (see discussion in \cite{Mohr09}
where $\tau \approx 12$\,ps is suggested with an uncertainty of about a factor
of two) we use a value close to the upper experimental limit of the width (or
lower limit of the lifetime).

\subsubsection{$^{180}$Ta}
\label{sec:trans180}
Following \cite{Mohr07}, the lowest IMS in $^{180}$Ta\ is located at 594\,keV. It is
the band head of a $K = 5$ rotational band, and also the higher members of
this band have been assigned as IMS \cite{Wal01}. The 594\,keV level has a
half-life of $t_{1/2} = 16.1 \pm 1.9$\,ns and decays by a 72.2\,keV transition
\cite{Dra98,Sai99}, probably by a M1 transition to the 520\,keV level on the
low-$K$\ side. (Note that there is a surprising 2\,keV discrepancy in the
transition energy and the excitation energies that may be related to the
2\,keV shift of the $9^-$ isomer from $E_x = 75$\,keV in earlier compilations
to $E_x = 77$\,keV in the latest data base \cite{ENSDF}.) Based on reasonable
assumptions for the transition strength of the E2 transition from the 594\,keV
state to the $7^-$ state at 357\,keV on the high-$K$\ side, it has been concluded
in \cite{Mohr07} that the 594\,keV state is the lowest IMS in $^{180}$Ta . A
simplified level scheme of $^{180}$Ta\ is shown in Fig.~\ref{fig:ta180level}.
\begin{figure}[thbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm]{fig02.eps}
  \caption{
   (Color online)
   Partial level scheme of $^{180}$Ta\ with low-$K$\ states on the left and high-$K$\ states
   on the right. The IMS is indicated by a blue line over the full width of
   the diagram.
   }
   \label{fig:ta180level}
\end{figure}

\section{Modifications of transitions by the stellar plasma}
\label{sec:mod}
\subsection{Stellar transition rates and detailed balance theorem}
\label{sec:stran}
In this chapter, we have changed notations to have indices $I$, $L$, and $H$
to designate IMS, low-$K$ , and high-$K$\ states, respectively.  The stellar reaction
rate expression in Eqs.~(\ref{eq:lam}) to (\ref{eq:isig}) only includes
radiative excitation and spontaneous photon emission. In a stellar plasma at
thermodynamic equilibrium, induced photon emission has also to be included.
This can be easily done by changing Eq.~(\ref{eq:isig}) for a transition from
a high-$K$\ state to a low-$K$\ state into:

\begin{eqnarray}
I^\ast_\sigma & = &
 \frac{2J_{I}+1}{2J_H+1} \,
\left(\frac{\pi \hbar c}{E_{I}-E_{H}}\right)^2 \, \times \qquad
\nonumber \\
 & \times &
 \frac{ \Gamma^\ast_{IL} \Gamma^\ast_{IH}
   \frac{\exp{\left(\frac{E_{I}-E_{H}}{kT}\right)}}{\exp{\left(\frac{E_{I}-E_{H}}{kT}\right)}-1}}{\Gamma^\ast_{IL}
   \frac{\exp{\left(\frac{E_{I}-E_{L}}{kT}\right)}}{\exp{\left(\frac{E_{I}-E_{L}}{kT}\right)}-1}+{\Gamma^\ast_{IH}
     \frac{\exp{\left(\frac{E_{I}-E_{H}}{kT}\right)}}{\exp{\left(\frac{E_{I}-E_{H}}{kT}\right)}-1}}}
\label{eq:isigind}
\end{eqnarray}

However, it should be noted that $L$ and $H$ must designate single levels
here. When several high-$K$\ levels or several low-$K$\ levels are involved, each
stellar transition rate must be dealt with separately.

Adding induced photon emission is only relevant when transition energies are
not too much larger than the plasma temperature $kT$. In the worst case that
will be presented below, a 72 keV transition in $^{180}$Ta\ at a temperature of
25 keV, the correction is only $5\%$. Thus, the approximation for the stellar
reaction rate in Eq.~(\ref{eq:lam}) remains valid for typical astrophysical
conditions.

In a plasma at Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (LTE), transition rates are
related to their corresponding inverse transition rates by the detailed
balance theorem. It can be easily proved that this still stands when dealing
with indirect (through the IMS) transition rates, so we can write:
\begin{eqnarray}
\frac{\lambda^\ast_{HL}}{\lambda^\ast_{LH}} &= &  \frac{2J_{L}+1}{2J_{H}+1}  \exp{\left(\frac{E_{L}-E_{H}}{kT}\right)}
\label{eq:revers}
\end{eqnarray}
It is possible to define a global excitation and deexcitation rate when the
IMS state is excited from, or decays down to, a group of levels by summing over
the contributing levels $j$ \cite{Gos07}:
\begin{equation}
\lambda_{IL} =
 \sum_j \lambda_{IL_{j}}
\label{eq:lbdil}
\end{equation}
and
\begin{equation}
\lambda_{HI} =
 \frac{\displaystyle{\sum_j} \left(2J_{H_{j}}+1\right) e^{-\frac{E_{H_{j}}}{kT}} \lambda_{H_{j}I}}{\displaystyle{\sum_j} \left(2J_{H_{j}}+1\right) e^{-\frac{E_{H_{j}}}{kT}}}
\label{eq:lbdhi}
\end{equation}
These global rates do not verify the detailed balance theorem,
as no single energy and spin can be associated to the `global level'. The
detailed balance theorem can only be verified for a transition between two
individual levels, and not when some are grouped together into a global level.

However, in the case where one transition dominates all the other transitions
from its group, the detailed balance theorem is approximately verified. In
particular, such is the case for $^{176}$Lu\ in this work.

\subsection{Modifications of transition rates by electronic environment}
\label{sec:modenv}
Electronic environment in stellar plasmas may influence decay or excitation
properties of nuclei. Internal conversion is strongly dependent on the number
of bound electrons, and nuclear transitions may be excited by its inverse
process NEEC \cite{Dzy07,Gos04}.

The huge number of low energy free electrons may also play a role in decay or
excitation by electron scattering \cite{Gos09}
even though the transition rate is usually quite small
for high energy nuclear transitions. In the particular cases where an atomic
transition matches in energy a nuclear transition, NEET (Nuclear Excitation by
Electron Transition) and its reverse process BIC (Bound Internal Conversion)
become possible \cite{Mor04,Mor04b}. However, this last phenomenon is absent
for the nuclear transitions in $^{180}$Ta\ or $^{176}$Lu\ of this study as no
atomic transition matches the high energy nuclear transitions of interest.

The net effect of all these processes is a modification of the excitation and
de-excitation rates leading to modifications of nuclear level lifetimes
\cite{Gos07}. All these processes have been dealt with under the LTE
hypothesis, which means that the detailed balance theorem can be used for each
individual process as well as for the total transition rate between two
levels.

The width $\Gamma^\ast_{i \rightarrow f}(T)$ for a transition from an initial
state $i$ to a final state $f$ under stellar conditions depends on temperature
and is given be the sum over several contributions:
\begin{eqnarray}
\Gamma^\ast_{i \rightarrow f}(T) & = &
\Gamma^{\gamma}_{i \rightarrow f} +
\Gamma^{IC}_{i \rightarrow f}(T) +
\Gamma^{(e',e)}_{i \rightarrow f}(T) \nonumber \\
& = &
\Gamma^{\gamma}_{i \rightarrow f}
[ 1 +
\alpha^{IC}_{i \rightarrow f}(T) +
\alpha^{(e',e)}_{i \rightarrow f}(T)
] \nonumber \\
\label{eq:gammatemp}
\end{eqnarray}
$\Gamma^{\gamma}_{i \rightarrow f}$ is the temperature-independent
$\gamma$-radiation width that is enhanced by the temperature-dependent widths
of conversion electrons $\Gamma^{IC}_{i \rightarrow f}(T)$ and of electron
scattering $\Gamma^{(e',e)}_{i \rightarrow f}(T)$. The $\alpha$ are the
corresponding dimensionless enhancement factors normalized to the radiation
width $\Gamma^{\gamma}_{i \rightarrow f}$. The $\alpha^{IC}_{i \rightarrow f}$
is the well-known internal conversion coefficient modified to take into
account the partial ionization of the atom and the modifications it induces on
the electronic wavefunctions.

The explanation of Eq.~(\ref{eq:gammatemp}) uses the standard wording for the
decay case. Although the underlying physics is exactly the same, the usual
wordings for the excitation case are ``nuclear excitation by electron
capture'' $\Gamma^{NEEC}$ instead of ``internal conversion'' $\Gamma^{IC}$ and
``inelastic electron scattering'' $\Gamma^{(e,e')}$ instead of ``superelastic
electron scattering'' $\Gamma^{(e',e)}$.

For completeness and clarification of the figures in Sect.~\ref{sec:res} it
must be pointed out that the radiation width $\Gamma^\gamma$ itself is
temperature-independent. However, the half-life (or decay rate)
of a given state becomes
temperature-dependent at high temperatures because of induced photon emission
(see also Sect.~\ref{sec:stran}), even in the absence of the further
contributions of IC/NEEC and electron scattering  in
Eq.~(\ref{eq:gammatemp}).

\section{Results}
\label{sec:res}
As already mentioned in the introduction, plasma effects are important mainly
for transitions with low energies. Thus, capture reactions with typical
energies far above 1\,MeV are practically not affected in any astrophysical
scenario, whereas the production and destruction of isomers in the
astrophysical s-process\ has to be studied in detail.

It is generally accepted that the astrophysical s-process\ operates in thermally
pulsing AGB stars \cite{Gal98,Buss99,Stra06}. In the so-called interpulse
phase neutrons are produced by the $^{13}$C($\alpha$,n) $^{16}$O reaction at
relatively low temperatures around $kT \approx 8$\,keV for about $10^4 -
10^5$\,years; this temperature is too low to affect isomer production and
destruction \cite{Mohr07,Mohr09}. During thermal pulses the $^{22}$Ne($\alpha$,n)
$^{25}$Mg neutron source is activated for a few years at temperatures around
25\,keV and densities of the order of $10^3$\,g/cm$^3$ \cite{Gal98}. For the
present analysis we adopt this density, and we study the temperature
dependence of various transitions in the chosen examples $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta .

The results are presented as temperature-dependent enhancement factors
${\cal{F}}(T)$ that relate the plasma effects (mainly NEEC and electron
scattering) to the effective radiative transition width
\begin{equation}
{\cal{F}}^X(T) = \frac{\Gamma^X(T)}{\Gamma^\gamma_{\rm{eff}}(T)}
\label{eq:enh}
\end{equation}
where the index $X$ stands for IC/NEEC, electron scattering, or NEET. The
presentation of the relative enhancement factor ${\cal{F}}$ instead of
$\Gamma^X(T)$ avoids complications for transitions with unknown radiation
widths $\Gamma^\gamma$. For $T \rightarrow 0$ the enhancement factors
${\cal{F}}$ in Eq.~(\ref{eq:enh}) are identical to the usual factors $\alpha$
in Eq.~(\ref{eq:gammatemp}).

It has to be kept in mind that the radiative width $\Gamma^\gamma$ in
Eq.~(\ref{eq:gammatemp}) is temperature-independent; but the radiative part is
enhanced by induced photon transitions at high temperatures leading to the
temperature-dependent effective radiation width $\Gamma^\gamma_{\rm{eff}}(T)$
in the denominator in Eq.~(\ref{eq:enh}):
\begin{equation}
\Gamma^\gamma_{\rm{eff}}(T)
= \Gamma^\gamma \left[ 1 + \frac{1}{\exp{(\Delta E/kT)}-1} \right]
\label{eq:gamgameff}
\end{equation}
The second part in the parenthesis is the enhancement due to induced photon
emission for a transition with energy $\Delta E$; see also
Eq.~(\ref{eq:isigind}) where the same factor was already used for the
definition of the integrated cross section $I_\sigma^\ast$. Obviously this
enhancement remains small at low temperatures and high transition energies,
i.e.\ $\Delta E \gg kT$.

All following results are presented within a range of temperatures from 1 keV to
1 MeV. However, it should be noted that the results are non-relativistic estimates,
which can lead to some errors for temperatures above a few hundred keV.

\subsection{Modification of widths in $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta }
\label{sec:resmod}
\subsubsection{$^{176}$Lu }
\label{sec:res176}
The lowest transition energy between the $5^-;4$ IMS state in $^{176}$Lu\ at
839\,keV and a lower state is 116\,keV. For such a high energy, one should not
expect the electrons to have a large influence on the transition rates.

First, we study the excitation of the $5^-;4$ IMS at 839\,keV from the
high-$K$\ side, i.e.\ from the $7^-;7$ ground state and the $6^-;6$ state at
564\,keV. We plot the plasma enhancement factor as a function of
temperature for the chosen density of 1000\,g/cm$^3$ in
Fig.~\ref{fig:lu176rate1}. Only NEEC is not totally
negligible against radiative excitation, but it never amounts to more than a
few percents.
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm,height=7.4cm,clip]{fig03.eps}
  \caption{
    Transition rate enhancement factor for NEEC from high-$K$\ levels to the IMS
    level of $^{176}$Lu\ at 1000\,g/cm$^3$.
  }
  \label{fig:lu176rate1}
\end{figure}

Excitations of the $5^-;4$ IMS at 839\,keV from the low-$K$\ side are somewhat
stronger affected. This is not surprising because of the lower transition
energies from the $4^-;1$, $4^+;4$, $5^+;4$, and $4^-;4$ states located between
596\,keV and 723\,keV. We find NEEC rates nearly equal to radiative rates for
temperatures lower than 10\,keV as shown in
Fig.~\ref{fig:graf_ratio_lut176_nivL7}. NEEC accounts for a global excitation
rate increase by a factor around 1.6 in this temperature range.
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm,height=6.4cm,clip]{fig04.eps}
  \caption{
    Transition rate enhancement factor for NEEC from low-$K$\ levels to the
    IMS level of $^{176}$Lu\ at 1000\,g/cm$^3$.
}
\label{fig:graf_ratio_lut176_nivL7}
\end{figure}

This enhancement translates into the same factor on the stellar transition
rate Eq.~(\ref{eq:lam}) shown on Fig.~\ref{fig:graf_ratioHL_lut176}. However,
at temperatures below about 15\,keV the stellar transition rate from high-$K$\ to
low-$K$\ states in $^{176}$Lu\ drops below $10^{-15}$/s or $3 \times 10^{-8}$ per year
\cite{Mohr09,Heil08},
i.e.\ it becomes negligible on the above mentioned timescale of a thermal
pulse. Consequently, the plasma modification of the stellar transition rate
does not affect the nucleosynthesis of $^{176}$Lu\ in the s-process .
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm,height=7.4cm,clip]{fig05.eps}
  \caption{
    Stellar transition rate enhancement factor due to NEEC for $^{176}$Lu\ at
    1000\,g/cm$^3$. The enhancement at temperatures below
    15\,keV does not affect the nucleosynthesis of $^{176}$Lu\ in the s-process\ because
    the stellar rate drops below $10^{-15}$/s at 15\,keV.
  }
  \label{fig:graf_ratioHL_lut176}
\end{figure}

The enhancement of the stellar transition rate is directly related to the
decrease of the partial half-life of the IMS level down to low-$K$\ levels as
shown on Fig.~\ref{fig:graf_tvie_lut176}. The dominating branch to the
high-$K$\ side is practically not affected.
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm,height=7.4cm,clip]{fig06.eps}
  \caption{
    Partial half-lives of the $5^-;4$ IMS level of $^{176}$Lu\ towards low-$K$\ and
    high-$K$\ levels at 1000\,g/cm$^3$. At low temperatures the branch to
    low-$K$\ states is enhanced by NEEC/IC. At high temperatures above 100\,keV
    induced photon emission shortens the half-lives.
  }
\label{fig:graf_tvie_lut176}
\end{figure}

Two almost degenerate $7^-$ states around 725\,keV and their {\it{K}}-mixing\ have
been suggested as a further candidate for a low-lying IMS in
$^{176}$Lu\ \cite{Gin09}. The influence of the plasma environment on these two
almost degenerate $7^-$ states is small. The decay energies are 288\,keV for
the low-$K$\ branch and 161\,keV for the high-$K$\ branch. These transition energies
are higher or at least similar to the transition energies in the low-$K$\ branch
of the $5^-;4$ IMS at 839\,keV that are enhanced only at very low temperatures
(see Fig.~\ref{fig:graf_ratio_lut176_nivL7} and discussion above). Thus, it
can be concluded that the IMS properties of the two $7^-$ states are not
affected by the plasma environment.

\subsubsection{$^{180}$Ta }
\label{sec:res180}

The candidate for the lowest IMS in $^{180}$Ta\ is a $5^+$ state at 594\,keV that
decays to the low-$K$\ branch by a 72\,keV (M1) transition; the laboratory
half-life is $t_{1/2} = 16.1 \pm 1.9$\,ns. Thus, at first glance, effects on
$^{180}$Ta\ appear to be stronger because of the relatively low transition energy of
only 72\,keV. Indeed, the excitation rate from the low-$K$\ 520 keV state
exhibits a large influence of electrons shown in
Fig.~\ref{fig:graf_ratio_tan180_niv12_decale}. For temperatures below 10\,keV,
electron inelastic scattering reaches $10\,\%$ of the radiative rate and NEEC is
10 times higher than the radiative rate. This factor can also be observed in
Fig.~\ref{fig:graf_tvie_tan180} with a factor of 10 decrease on the half-life
of the IMS level.
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm,height=7.4cm,clip]{fig07.eps}
  \caption{
    Transition rate enhancement factor for NEEC from the low-$K$\ $4^+$ level to
    the $5^+$ IMS level of $^{180}$Ta\ at 1000\,g/cm$^3$.
  }
  \label{fig:graf_ratio_tan180_niv12_decale}
\end{figure}
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm,height=7.4cm,clip]{fig08.eps}
  \caption{
    Partial half-life of the $5^+$ IMS level of $^{180}$Ta\ towards the $4^+$
    low-$K$\ level at 1000\,g/cm$^3$. The reduction of the half-life at low
    temperatures results from enhanced transitions by NEEC. The reduction at
    high temperatures is due to induced transitions.
  }
  \label{fig:graf_tvie_tan180}
\end{figure}

The excitation rate enhancement for the 237\,keV E2 transition from the $5^+$
IMS to the high-$K$\ $7^+$ state at 357\,keV is very small, even though in this
case NEEC is not the only contributor as electron inelastic scattering makes
an appearance as can be seen on Fig.~\ref{fig:graf_ratio_tan180_niv02_decale}.
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm,height=7.4cm,clip]{fig09.eps}
  \caption{
    Transition rate enhancement factor for NEEC from the $7^+$ high-$K$\ level to
    the $5^+$ IMS level of $^{180}$Ta\ at 1000\,g/cm$^3$.
  }
  \label{fig:graf_ratio_tan180_niv02_decale}
\end{figure}

Contrary to the $^{176}$Lu\ case, the rate enhancement of the low-$K$\ branch of the
IMS does not translate into a similar increase on the stellar transition rate
between low-$K$\ and high-$K$\ states. Fig.~\ref{fig:graf_ratio_tan180_niv01} shows
that a $20\,\%$ increase can at best be expected for the lowest temperatures
because the excitation from the high-$K$\ level is the relevant term in the
stellar transition rate. Similar to $^{176}$Lu , the small enhancement of the
stellar reaction rate at low temperatures below about 15\,keV does not affect
the nucleosynthesis in the s-process\ because the absolute rates are too small at
such low temperatures.
\begin{figure}[htbp]
  \centering

  \includegraphics[width=7.4cm,height=7.4cm,clip]{fig10.eps}
  \caption{
    Stellar transition rate enhancement factor due to NEEC for $^{180}$Ta\ at
    1000\,g/cm$^3$.
  }
  \label{fig:graf_ratio_tan180_niv01}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Discussion of the results}
\label{sec:disc}

From the above shown examples it can be concluded that transitions with
energies above 200\,keV are practically not affected by the plasma environment
that is present under stellar s-process\ conditions. The influence of the stellar
plasma increases for lower transition energies and may reach about a factor of
two for transition energies above 100\,keV. Low-energy transitions below
100\,keV may change dramatically; e.g., a factor of about 10 has been found
for the 72\,keV transition in $^{180}$Ta .

NEEC is the main contributor to this increase with capture onto the $1s$ shell
amounting to the larger part. This effect disappears when the temperature
increases as free electrons have too much energy to be captured onto an atomic
shell.  The only other influence of electrons is inelastic
scattering. However, it is never greater than 10\,\% of the radiative
excitation rate or more than 1\,\% of the total transition rate. NEET remains
negligible as long as no matching transitions are present.

Changes in the strength of a particular transition do not directly translate
into modifications of the stellar reaction rate $\lambda^\ast$ for transitions
from the low-$K$\ to the high-$K$\ levels. The stellar reaction rate $\lambda^\ast$
is proportional to the integrated cross section $I_\sigma^\ast$ in
Eq.~(\ref{eq:isig}) and thus proportional to a width factor
\begin{equation}
\lambda^\ast \sim I_\sigma^\ast \sim \frac{\Gamma_1
  \Gamma_2}{\Gamma_1 + \Gamma_2}
\label{eq:gam1gam2}
\end{equation}
where the $\Gamma_i$ represent the low-$K$\ and high-$K$\ branches under stellar
conditions.
As long as one
of the partial widths dominates -- e.g.\ $\Gamma_1 \gg \Gamma_2$ and thus
$\Gamma = \Gamma_1 + \Gamma_2 \approx \Gamma_1$ -- this dominating width
$\Gamma_1$ cancels out in Eq.~(\ref{eq:gam1gam2}), and the stellar rate is
approximately proportional to the smaller width $\Gamma_2$. If the smaller
width corresponds to a $K$-forbidden transition with relatively high energies
above 200\,keV, then the stellar reaction rate $\lambda^\ast$
is practically not affected by
the plasma environment. This is the case for the decay of the lowest IMS in
$^{180}$Ta\ \cite{Mohr06} and also for the recently identified lowest IMS in
$^{176}$Lu\ \cite{Dra10}.

Although $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta\ appear to have a very different behavior in terms of
modification of individual excitation rates by electrons, the global effects
on the stellar transition rates are very similar: a 20\,\% to 60\,\% increase
of the stellar rate is found for temperatures lower than 20\,keV. The major
change of the 72\,keV transition in $^{180}$Ta\ does not appear as a major
modification of the stellar reaction rate because this 72\,keV transition is
the dominating decay branch of the IMS in $^{180}$Ta .

\section{Summary and conclusions}
\label{sec:summ}
Under stellar conditions
the radiative transition width $\Gamma^\gamma$ for an individual transition
from an initial state $i$ to a final state $f$ is enhanced by electronic
transitions which are induced by the surrounding stellar plasma. The
enhancement factor ${\cal{F}} = \Gamma^\ast/\Gamma^\gamma_{\rm{eff}}$ is
composed of several effects. Under typical s-process\ conditions the dominating
effect is NEEC. Electron scattering plays a very minor role, and NEET remains
completely  negligible for practical purposes.

Typical s-process\ conditions are temperatures around $kT \approx 23$\,keV and
$\rho \approx 10^3$\,g/cm$^3$ for the helium shell flashes in thermally
pulsing AGB stars. Under these conditions we find negligible enhancement
factors ${\cal{F}} \approx 1$ for transitions with energies above $\Delta E =
150$\,keV. At energies around 100\,keV, ${\cal{F}}$ increases, but remains
below a factor of two. Further lowering of the transition energy down to about
50\,keV leads to dramatic enhancement factors up to one order of magnitude
(${\cal{F}} \approx 10$). Transitions with energies below 50\,keV are even
further enhanced; but nuclear transitions with such low transition energies are
very rare.

The nucleosynthesis of $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta\ is affected by low-lying $K$-isomers in
these nuclei and the production and destruction of these isomers via
transitions to IMS. The stellar transition rates $\lambda^\ast$ for
transitions from high-$K$\ to low-$K$\ states are defined by the decay properties of
the IMS, i.e.\ by a combination of the individual transition strengths. For
$^{176}$Lu\ the stellar plasma does not lead to a significant modification of the
stellar transition rate $\lambda^\ast$ because the lowest transition energy of
116\,keV is sufficiently high, and thus all individual transitions remain
unaffected by the plasma. For $^{180}$Ta\ a significant enhancement of more than a
factor of two is found for the low-energy $\Delta E = 72$\,keV transition from
the lowest IMS at 594\,keV. This low-energy transition is the dominating decay
branch of the IMS; but the stellar rate $\lambda^\ast$ is essentially defined
by the weak decay branch to the 357\,keV state (as suggested in \cite{Mohr07})
which remains unaffected because of its larger transition energy. Thus, more
or less by accident, the stellar rate $\lambda^\ast$ for $^{180}$Ta\ is not modified
significantly although one individual decay branch is modified by more than a
factor of two.

In summary, due to the plasma environment the stellar reaction rate
$\lambda^\ast$ for the production or destruction of $K$-isomers in $^{176}$Lu\ and
$^{180}$Ta\ does not change by more than about 20\,\% at s-process\ temperatures around
25\,keV and less than about 60\,\% at very low temperatures below
10\,keV. However, at these low temperatures the absolute rates are too low to
have influence on s-process\ nucleosynthesis; under these conditions,
corresponding to the long-lasting interpulse phase with $kT \approx 8$\,keV,
the low-$K$\ and high-$K$\ states have to be treated as two separate species that are
practically decoupled because the IMS cannot be reached by thermal
excitations.

Within the present knowledge of IMS in $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta\ it may be concluded
that electronic effects due to the plasma environment do not play a relevant
role in the s-process\ nucleosynthesis of $^{176}$Lu\ and $^{180}$Ta . However, it should be
kept in mind that three new IMS (or a group of IMS) have been suggested in the
last few years:
725\,keV \cite{Gin09} and 709\,keV, 787\,keV, and 889\,keV \cite{Dra10} in
$^{176}$Lu\ and 594\,keV in
$^{180}$Ta\ \cite{Mohr07}. Each newly suggested IMS has its individual decay pattern
which has to be studied. It may have a weak low-energy branch that may be
significantly enhanced by the plasma environment. This low-energy branch may
finally define the stellar rate $\lambda^\ast$ according to
Eq.~(\ref{eq:gam1gam2}). So we conclude here that the plasma enhancement
should be taken into account for any low-energy transition below about
100\,keV.

\begin{acknowledgments}
We thank the participants of the ECT workshop {\it{International Workshop on
    Atomic Effects in Nuclear Excitation and Decay}} (ECT Trento 2009), in
particular Ph.\ Walker, G.\ D.\ Dracoulis, J.\ J.\ Carroll, F.\ G.\ Kondev,
for interesting and encouraging discussions, and the ECT for its kind
hospitality during the workshop.
\end{acknowledgments}

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Quantum Light technology lights up President Obama's MIT laboratory tour
(Nanowerk News) QD Vision's green-tech Quantum Light™ technology platform lit up President Obama's recent tour of laboratories at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where low-power, long-life Array™ Lighting LED lamps from Nexxus Lighting, Inc. are utilizing breakthroughs in quantum dot technology from QD Vision, Inc. to emit high-quality warm LED light.
The President visited MIT Oct. 23 to promote his administration's commitment to energy research enabling the U.S. to lead the world in the development of new, efficient and clean energy technologies. Prior to his speech to students and faculty, President Obama toured three MIT Laboratories, where cutting edge clean energy technologies are being developed with Government research funding. In one, QD Vision Scientific Advisor and Co-Founder Vladimir Bulovic, the KDD Associate Professor of Communications and Technology, demonstrated the Array™ Lighting LED lamp with Quantum Light™ optic technology to the President.
QD Vision's breakthroughs in very low power solid-state lighting are based on work that got its start in Prof. Bulovic's MIT laboratory. They exploit the unique light emitting properties of quantum dots to deliver huge reductions in power consumption and dramatic color quality improvements. Unlike the harsh, cold white light typical of today's low-power LED and fluorescent lights, quantum dots can warm up white light and dramatically improve emitted colors, while preserving the high efficiency of LEDs.
"By putting the spotlight on our Quantum Light™ product platform during President Obama's tour, MIT made a strong statement about the importance of clean, efficient lighting solutions that will provide the quality of light consumers need while reducing rather than enlarging their carbon footprints," said Dr. Dan Button, President and CEO of QD Vision.
The product demonstration by QD Vision and its commercial lighting partner Nexxus Lighting, shows the quality and efficiency improvements in lumen output and color rendering index (CRI) enabled by the Quantum Light™ optic when applied to the exit face of a Nexxus Array™ LED PAR 30 lamp. The companies have been working closely together for several months and expect to start delivering these breakthrough commercial products to market in early 2010.
"Array™ Lighting LED lamps by Nexxus allow for savings in energy of up to 80% and can last over 50,000 hours. Adding this new high color rendering, true incandescent warm white color choice to our Array™ product line meets the need for improved color rendering performance in LED lighting, without sacrificing the efficacy gains you can achieve through solid state solutions. These are industry-leading products" said Mike Bauer, President and CEO of Nexxus Lighting.
About QD Vision, Inc.
QD Vision is a quantum-dot product company that delivers highly differentiated lighting solutions to major industries where color, power and design matter. QD Vision's Quantum Light™ platform enables step-change advances over other display and lighting solutions such as liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), plasma displays, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and even organic LEDs (OLEDs). QD Vision is actively designing in products with industry-leading companies in target markets including consumer electronics and flat panel displays, electronic signage, clean tech such as solid-state lighting, and defense. Leveraging a first-tier patent position in nanotechnology originating at MIT, QD Vision is a privately held company based in Watertown, Mass. "Quantum Light" is a trademark of QD Vision, Inc.
About Nexxus Lighting, Inc.
Nexxus Lighting is a leader in advanced lighting technology, including solid-state LED and fiber optic lighting systems and controls used in commercial, architectural, signage, swimming pool, entertainment and retail lighting. Nexxus Lighting sells its products through its Commercial Lighting, Lumificient and Nexxus Lighting Pool and Spa units under the Array™ Lighting, Savi®, eLum™, LiveLED™, Super Vision® and Lumificient™ brand names.
Source: QD Vision


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