High Precision Mass Measurements in Ψ\Psi and Υ\Upsilon Families Revisited

High precision mass measurements in $\Psi$ and $\Upsilon$ families performed in 1980-1984 at the VEPP-4 collider with OLYA and MD-1 detectors are revisited. The corrections for the new value of the electron mass are presented. The effect of the updated radiative corrections has been calculated for the $J/\Psi(1S)$ and $\Psi(2S)$ mass measurements.Comment: 5 pages, 1 table, submitted to Phys. Lett.

New precise determination of the \tau lepton mass at KEDR detector

The status of the experiment on the precise $\tau$ lepton mass measurement running at the VEPP-4M collider with the KEDR detector is reported. The mass value is evaluated from the $\tau^+\tau^-$ cross section behaviour around the production threshold. The preliminary result based on 6.7 pb$^{-1}$ of data is $m_{\tau}=1776.80^{+0.25}_{-0.23} \pm 0.15$ MeV. Using 0.8 pb$^{-1}$ of data collected at the $\psi'$ peak the preliminary result is also obtained: $\Gamma_{ee}B_{\tau\tau}(\psi') = 7.2 \pm 2.1$ eV.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figures; The 9th International Workshop on Tau-Lepton Physics, Tau0

The polaron-like nature of an electron coupled to phonons

When an electron interacts with phonons, the electron can exhibit either free electron-like or polaron-like properties. The latter tends to occur for very strong coupling, and results in a phonon cloud accompanying the electron as it moves, thus raising its mass considerably. We summarize this behaviour for the Holstein model in one, two and three dimensions, and note that the crossover occurs for fairly low coupling strengths compared to those attributed to real materials exhibiting conventional superconductivity.Comment: 5 pages; contains a summary of single particle results for the Holstein mode

Transmaternal bisphenol a exposure accelerates diabetes type 1 development in NOD mice

Diabetes mellitus type 1 is an autoimmune disease with a genetic predisposition that is triggered by environmental factors during early life. Epidemiological studies show that bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine disruptor, has been detected in about 90% of all analyzed human urine samples. In this study, BPA was found to increase the severity of insulitis and the incidence of diabetes in female non obese diabetic (NOD) mice offspring after transmaternal exposure through the dams' drinking water (0, 0.1, 1, and 10 mg/l). Both the severity of insulitis in the pancreatic islets at 11 weeks of age and the diabetes prevalence at 20 weeks were significantly increased for female offspring in the highest exposure group compared to the control group. Increased numbers of apoptotic cells, a reduction in tissue resident macrophages and an increase in regulatory T cells were observed in islets prior to insulitis development in transmaternally exposed offspring. The detectable apoptotic cells were identified as mostly glucagon producing alpha-cells but also tissue resident macrophages and betacells. In the local (pancreatic) lymph node neither regulatory T cell nor NKT cell populations were affected by maternal BPA exposure. Maternal BPA exposure may have induced systemic immune changes in offspring, as evidenced by alterations in LPSand ConA-induced cytokine secretion in splenocytes. In conclusion, transmaternal BPA exposure, in utero and through lactation, accelerated the spontaneous diabetes development in NOD mice. This acceleration appeared to be related to early life modulatory effects on the immune system, resulting in adverse effects later in life. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Toxicology. All rights reserved