The Physics of the B Factories

This work is on the Physics of the B Factories. Part A of this book contains a brief description of the SLAC and KEK B Factories as well as their detectors, BaBar and Belle, and data taking related issues. Part B discusses tools and methods used by the experiments in order to obtain results. The results themselves can be found in Part C

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

EuFe2_2As2_2 under high pressure: an antiferromagnetic bulk superconductor

We report the ac magnetic susceptibility $\chi_{ac}$ and resistivity $\rho$ measurements of EuFe$_2$As$_2$ under high pressure $P$. By observing nearly 100% superconducting shielding and zero resistivity at $P$ = 28 kbar, we establish that $P$-induced superconductivity occurs at $T_c \sim$~30 K in EuFe$_2$As$_2$. $\rho$ shows an anomalous nearly linear temperature dependence from room temperature down to $T_c$ at the same $P$. $\chi_{ac}$ indicates that an antiferromagnetic order of Eu$^{2+}$ moments with $T_N \sim$~20 K persists in the superconducting phase. The temperature dependence of the upper critical field is also determined.Comment: To appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., Vol. 78 No.

Branching fraction and charge asymmetry measurements in B→J/ψππn decays

We study the decays B-0 -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-) and B+-> J/psi pi(+)pi(0), including intermediate resonances, using a sample of 382x10(6) B (B) over bar pairs recorded by the BABAR detector at the PEP-II e(+)e(-) B factory. We measure the branching fractions B(B-0 -> J/psi rho(0))=(2.7 +/- 0.3 +/- 0.2)x10(-5) and B(B+-> J/psi rho(+))=(5.0 +/- 0.7 +/- 0.3)x10(-5). We also set the following upper limits at the 90% confidence level: B(B-0 -> J/psi pi(+)pi(-) nonresonant) J/psi f(2)) J/psi pi(+)pi(0) nonresonant)< 7.3x10(-6). We measure the charge asymmetry in charged B decays to J/psi rho to be -0.11 +/- 0.12 +/- 0.08

Observation of the chi(c2)(2P) meson in the reaction gamma gamma -> D(D)over-bar at BABAR

A search for the Z(3930) resonance in gamma gamma production of the D (D) over bar system has been performed using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 384 fb(-1) recorded by the BABAR experiment at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy electron-positron collider. The D (D) over bar invariant mass distribution shows clear evidence of the Z(3930) state with a significance of 5.8 sigma. We determine mass and width values of (3926.7 +/- 2.7 +/- 1.1) MeV/c(2) and (21.3 +/- 6.8 +/- 3.6) MeV, respectively. A decay angular analysis provides evidence that the Z(3930) is a tensor state with positive parity and C parity (J(PC) = 2(++)); therefore we identify the Z(3930) state as the chi(c2)(2P) meson. The value of the partial width Gamma(gamma gamma) x B(Z(3930) -> D (D) over bar) is found to be (0.24 +/- 0.05 +/- 0.04) keV

Search for charged Lepton flavor violation in narrow gamma decays

Charged-lepton flavor-violating processes are unobservable in the standard model, but they are predicted to be enhanced in several extensions to the standard model, including supersymmetry and models with leptoquarks or compositeness. We present a search for such processes in a sample of 99 x 10(6)Gamma(2S) decays and 117 x 10(6)Gamma(3S) decays collected with the BABAR detector. We place upper limits on the branching fractions B(Gamma(nS) --> e(+/-)tau(-/+)) and B(Gamma(n(S) --> mu(+/-)tau(-/+)) (n = 2, 3) at the 10(-6) level and use these results to place lower limits of order 1 TeV on the mass scale of charged-lepton flavor-violating effective operators