112 research outputs found
Extrinsic CPT Violation in Neutrino Oscillations in Matter
We investigate matter-induced (or extrinsic) CPT violation effects in
neutrino oscillations in matter. Especially, we present approximate analytical
formulas for the CPT-violating probability differences for three flavor
neutrino oscillations in matter with an arbitrary matter density profile. Note
that we assume that the CPT invariance theorem holds, which means that the CPT
violation effects arise entirely because of the presence of matter. As special
cases of matter density profiles, we consider constant and step-function matter
density profiles, which are relevant for neutrino oscillation physics in
accelerator and reactor long baseline experiments as well as neutrino
factories. Finally, the implications of extrinsic CPT violation on neutrino
oscillations in matter for several past, present, and future long baseline
experiments are estimated.Comment: 47 pages, 7 figures, RevTeX4. Final version to be published in Phys.
Rev.
Measurement of the production cross-section of positive pions in the collision of 8.9 GeV/c protons on beryllium
The double-differential production cross-section of positive pions,
, measured in the HARP experiment is presented.
The incident particles are 8.9 GeV/c protons directed onto a beryllium target
with a nominal thickness of 5% of a nuclear interaction length. The measured
cross-section has a direct impact on the prediction of neutrino fluxes for the
MiniBooNE and SciBooNE experiments at Fermilab. After cuts, 13 million protons
on target produced about 96,000 reconstructed secondary tracks which were used
in this analysis. Cross-section results are presented in the kinematic range
0.75 GeV/c < < 6.5 GeV/c and 30 mrad < < 210 mrad in
the laboratory frame.Comment: 39 pages, 21 figures. Version accepted for publication by Eur. Phys.
J.
Search for nu(mu)-->nu(e) Oscillations in the NOMAD Experiment
We present the results of a search for nu(mu)-->nu(e) oscillations in the
NOMAD experiment at CERN. The experiment looked for the appearance of nu(e) in
a predominantly nu(mu) wide-band neutrino beam at the CERN SPS. No evidence for
oscillations was found. The 90% confidence limits obtained are delta m^2 < 0.4
eV^2 for maximal mixing and sin^2(2theta) < 1.4x10^{-3} for large delta m^2.
This result excludes the LSND allowed region of oscillation parameters with
delta m^2 > 10 eV^2.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures. Submitted to Phys. Lett.
Inclusive production of and mesons in charged current interactions
The inclusive production of the meson resonances ,
and in neutrino-nucleus charged current interactions has been
studied with the NOMAD detector exposed to the wide band neutrino beam
generated by 450 GeV protons at the CERN SPS. For the first time the
meson is observed in neutrino interactions. The statistical
significance of its observation is 6 standard deviations. The presence of
in neutrino interactions is reliably established. The average
multiplicity of these three resonances is measured as a function of several
kinematic variables. The experimental results are compared to the
multiplicities obtained from a simulation based on the Lund model. In addition,
the average multiplicity of in antineutrino - nucleus
interactions is measured.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, 8 tables. To appear in Nucl. Phys.
A Measurement of Coherent Neutral Pion Production in Neutrino Neutral Current Interactions in NOMAD
We present a study of exclusive neutral pion production in neutrino-nucleus
Neutral Current interactions using data from the NOMAD experiment at the CERN
SPS. The data correspond to muon-neutrino Charged Current
interactions in the energy range GeV. Neutrino
events with only one visible in the final state are expected to result
from two Neutral Current processes: coherent production, {\boldmath
} and single production in
neutrino-nucleon scattering. The signature of coherent production is an
emergent almost collinear with the incident neutrino while 's
produced in neutrino-nucleon deep inelastic scattering have larger transverse
momenta. In this analysis all relevant backgrounds to the coherent
production signal are measured using data themselves. Having determined the
backgrounds, and using the Rein-Sehgal model for the coherent
production to compute the detection efficiency, we obtain {\boldmath } corrected coherent- events with GeV. We measure {\boldmath }.
This is the most precise measurement of the coherent production to
date.Comment: 23 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Lett.
Complement component 3 (C3) expression in the hippocampus after excitotoxic injury: role of C/EBPβ
[Background] The CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β (C/EBPβ) is a transcription factor implicated in the control of proliferation, differentiation, and inflammatory processes mainly in adipose tissue and liver; although more recent results have revealed an important role for this transcription factor in the brain. Previous studies from our laboratory indicated that CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β is implicated in inflammatory process and brain injury, since mice lacking this gene were less susceptible to kainic acid-induced injury. More recently, we have shown that the complement component 3 gene (C3) is a downstream target of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β and it could be a mediator of the proinflammatory effects of this transcription factor in neural cells.[Methods] Adult male Wistar rats (8–12 weeks old) were used throughout the study. C/EBPβ+/+ and C/EBPβ–/– mice were generated from heterozygous breeding pairs. Animals were injected or not with kainic acid, brains removed, and brain slices containing the hippocampus analyzed for the expression of both CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β and C3.[Results] In the present work, we have further extended these studies and show that CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β and C3 co-express in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus after an excitotoxic injury. Studies using CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β knockout mice demonstrate a marked reduction in C3 expression after kainic acid injection in these animals, suggesting that indeed this protein is regulated by C/EBPβ in the hippocampus in vivo.[Conclusions] Altogether these results suggest that CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein β could regulate brain disorders, in which excitotoxic and inflammatory processes are involved, at least in part through the direct regulation of C3.This work was supported by MINECO, Grant SAF2014-52940-R and partially financed with FEDER funds. CIBERNED is funded by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. JAM-G was supported by CIBERNED. We acknowledge support of the publication fee by the CSIC Open Access Publication Support Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI).Peer reviewe
IgM antibodies against malondialdehyde and phosphorylcholine in different systemic rheumatic diseases
IgM antibodies against phosphorylcholine (anti-PC) and malondialdehyde (anti-MDA) may have protective properties in cardiovascular and rheumatic diseases. We here compare these antibodies in systemic rheumatic conditions and study their properties. Anti-PC and anti-MDA was measured using ELISA in patients with SLE (374), RA (354), Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD, 77), Systemic sclerosis (SSc, 331), Sj\uf6gren\u2019s syndrome (SjS, 324), primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPs, 65), undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD, 118) and 515 matched healthy controls (HC). Cardiovascular score (CV) was broadly defined based on clinical disease symptoms. Anti-PC and anti-MDA peptide/protein characterization were compared using a proteomics de novo sequencing approach. anti-MDA and anti-PC were extracted from total IgM. The proportion of Treg cells was determined by flow cytometry. The maximal difference between cases and controls was shown for MCTD: significantly lower IgM Anti-PC but not anti-MDA among patients (median 49.3RU/ml vs 70.4 in healthy controls, p(t-test) = 0.0037). IgM low levels were more prevalent in MCTD, SLE, SjS, SSc and UCTD. IgM anti-PC variable region profiles were different from and more homologous than anti-MDA. Anti-PC but not anti-MDA were significantly negatively correlated with CV in the whole patient group. In contrast to IgM anti-PC, anti-MDA did not promote polarization of Tregs. Taken together, Anti-PC is decreased in MCTD and also in SLE, SjS and SSc but not in other studied diseases. Anti-PC may thus differentiate between these. In contrast, anti-MDA did not show these differences between diseases studied. Anti-PC level is negatively correlated with CV in the patient group cohort. In contrast to anti-PC, anti-MDA did not promote Treg polarization. These findings could have both diagnostic and therapeutic implications, one possibility being active or passive immunization with PC in some rheumatic conditions
Transancestral mapping and genetic load in systemic lupus erythematosus
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with marked gender and ethnic disparities. We report a large transancestral association study of SLE using Immunochip genotype data from 27,574 individuals of European (EA), African (AA) and Hispanic Amerindian (HA) ancestry. We identify 58 distinct non-HLA regions in EA, 9 in AA and 16 in HA (∼50% of these regions have multiple independent associations); these include 24 novel SLE regions (P<5 × 10-8), refined association signals in established regions, extended associations to additional ancestries, and a disentangled complex HLA multigenic effect. The risk allele count (genetic load) exhibits an accelerating pattern of SLE risk, leading us to posit a cumulative hit hypothesis for autoimmune disease. Comparing results across the three ancestries identifies both ancestry-dependent and ancestry-independent contributions to SLE risk. Our results are consistent with the unique and complex histories of the populations sampled, and collectively help clarify the genetic architecture and ethnic disparities in SLE.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
A Search for Single Photon Events in Neutrino Interactions
We present a search for neutrino-induced events containing a single,
exclusive photon using data from the NOMAD experiment at the CERN SPS where the
average energy of the neutrino flux is GeV. The search is motivated
by an excess of electron-like events in the 200--475 MeV energy region as
reported by the MiniBOONE experiment. In NOMAD, photons are identified via
their conversion to in an active target embedded in a magnetic field.
The background to the single photon signal is dominated by the asymmetric decay
of neutral pions produced either in a coherent neutrino-nucleus interaction, or
in a neutrino-nucleon neutral current deep inelastic scattering, or in an
interaction occurring outside the fiducial volume. All three backgrounds are
determined {\it in situ} using control data samples prior to opening the
`signal-box'. In the signal region, we observe {\bf 155} events with a
predicted background of {\bf 129.2 8.5 3.3}. We interpret this as
null evidence for excess of single photon events, and set a limit. Assuming
that the hypothetical single photon has a momentum distribution similar to that
of a photon from the coherent decay, the measurement yields an upper
limit on single photon events, {\boldmath } per \nm\
charged current event. Narrowing the search to events where the photon is
approximately collinear with the incident neutrino, we observe {\bf 78} events
with a predicted background of {\bf 76.6 4.9 1.9} yielding a more
stringent upper limit, {\boldmath } per \nm\ charged
current event
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