Reliability of measures of impairments associated with patellofemoral pain syndrome

BACKGROUND: The reliability and measurement error of several impairment measures used during the clinical examination of patients with patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS) has not been established. The purpose was to determine the inter-tester reliability and measurement error of measures of impairments associated with PFPS in patients with PFPS. METHODS: A single group repeated measures design was used. Two pairs of physical therapists participated in data collection. Examiners were blinded to each others' measurements. RESULTS: Thirty patients (age 29 +/- 8; 17 female) with PFPS participated in this study. Inter-tester reliability coefficients were substantial for measures of hamstrings, quadriceps, plantarflexors, and ITB/TFL complex length, hip abductors strength, and foot pronation (ICCs from .85 to .97); moderate for measures of Q-angle, tibial torsion, hip external rotation strength, lateral retinacular tightness, and quality of movement during a step down task (ICCs from .67 to .79); and poor for femoral anteversion (ICC of .45). Standard error of measurement (SEM) for measures of muscle length ranged from 1.6 degrees to 4.3 degrees. SEM for Q-angle, tibial torsion, and femoral anteversion were 2.4 degrees, 2.9 degrees, and 4.5 degrees respectively. SEM for foot pronation was 1 mm. SEM for measures of muscle strength was 1.8 Kg for abduction and 2.4 Kg for external rotation. CONCLUSION: Several of the impairments associated with PFPS had sufficient reliability and low measurement error. Further investigation is needed to test if these impairment measurements are related to physical function and whether or not they are useful for decision-making

Improved Methods for Observing CP Violation in B+/- --> K+/- D0 and Measuring the CKM Phase gamma

Various methods are discussed for obtaining the CKM angle gamma through the interference of the charged B-meson decay channels B- -> K- D0 and B- -> K- D0-bar where the D0 and D0-bar decay to common final states. It is found that choosing final states which are not CP eigenstates can lead to large direct CP violation which can give significant bounds on gamma without any theoretical assumptions. If two or more modes are studied, gamma may be extracted with a precision on the order of +/-15 degrees given about 10^8 B-mesons. We also discuss the case of three body decays of the D0 where additional information may be obtained from the distribution of the D0 decay products and consider the impact of D-D-bar oscillations.Comment: 51 pages 8 figures, typo in equation 33 correcte

B-Decay CP Asymmetries, Discrete Ambiguities and New Physics

The first measurements of CP violation in the $B$ system will likely probe $\sin 2\alpha$, $\sin 2\beta$ and $\cos 2\gamma$. Assuming that the CP angles $\alpha$, $\beta$ and $\gamma$ are the interior angles of the unitarity triangle, these measurements determine the angle set $(\alpha,\beta,\gamma)$ except for a twofold discrete ambiguity. If one allows for the possibility of new physics, the presence of this discrete ambiguity can make its discovery difficult: if only one of the two candidate solutions is consistent with constraints from other measurements in the $B$ and $K$ systems, one is not sure whether new physics is present or not. We review the methods used to resolve the discrete ambiguity and show that, even in the presence of new physics, they can usually be used to uncover this new physics. There are some exceptions, which we describe in detail. We systematically scan the parameter space and present examples of values of $(\alpha,\beta,\gamma)$ and the new-physics parameters which correspond to all possibilities. Finally, we show that if one relaxes the assumption that the bag parameters \BBd and \BK are positive, one can no longer definitively establish the presence of new physics.Comment: 29 pages, LaTeX, 1 figures, presentation substantially reworked, physics conclusions unchanged. This version will be published in Phys. Rev.

Exploring CP Violation with B_d -> D K_s Decays

We (re)examine CP violation in the decays B_d -> D K_s, where D represents D^0, D(bar), or one of their excited states. The quantity $\sin^2(2\beta + \gamma)$ can be extracted from the time-dependent rates for $B_d(t) -> {\bar D}^{**0} K_s$ and $B_d(t) -> D^{**0} K_s$, where the $D^{**0}$ decays to $D^{(*)+}\pi^-$. If one considers a non-CP-eigenstate hadronic final state to which both D(bar) and D^0 can decay (e.g. $K^+\pi^-$), then one can obtain two of the angles of the unitarity triangle from measurements of the time-dependent rates for $B_d(t) -> (K^+\pi^-)_{D K_s}$ and $B_d(t) -> (K^-\pi^+)_{D K_s}$. There are no penguin contributions to these decays, so all measurements are theoretically clean.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Model-independent constraints on new physics in b --> s transitions

We provide a comprehensive model-independent analysis of rare decays involving the b --> s transition to put constraints on dimension-six Delta(F)=1 effective operators. The constraints are derived from all the available up-to-date experimental data from the B-factories, CDF and LHCb. The implications and future prospects for observables in b --> s l+l- and b --> s nu nu transitions in view of improved measurements are also investigated. The present work updates and generalises previous studies providing, at the same time, a useful tool to test the flavour structure of any theory beyond the SM.Comment: 1+39 pages, 12 figures, 3 tables. v2: minor modifications, typos corrected, references added, version to be published in JHE

New Physics in b -> s mu+ mu-: CP-Conserving Observables

We perform a comprehensive study of the impact of new-physics operators with different Lorentz structures on decays involving the b -> s mu+ mu- transition. We examine the effects of new vector-axial vector (VA), scalar-pseudoscalar (SP) and tensor (T) interactions on the differential branching ratios and forward-backward asymmetries (A_{FB}'s) of Bsbar -> mu+ mu-, Bdbar -> Xs mu+ mu-, Bsbar -> mu+ mu- gamma, Bdbar -> Kbar mu+ mu-, and Bdbar -> K* mu+ mu-, taking the new-physics couplings to be real. In Bdbar -> K* mu+ mu-, we further explore the polarization fraction f_L, the angular asymmetry A_T^{(2)}, and the longitudinal-transverse asymmetry A_{LT}. We identify the Lorentz structures that would significantly impact these observables, providing analytical arguments in terms of the contributions from the individual operators and their interference terms. In particular, we show that while the new VA operators can significantly enhance most of the asymmetries beyond the Standard Model predictions, the SP and T operators can do this only for A_{FB} in Bdbar -> Kbar mu+ mu-.Comment: 54 pages, JHEP format, 45 figures (included). 5/6/2013: typos in K* mu mu angular coefficients corrected, typos in Eq. (D.12) corrected, added a missing term in I3LT in Eq. (D.16). Numerical analysis unchange

Two-Body B Meson Decays to η\eta and η′\eta^{'} -- Observation of B→ηB\to \eta{'}K$

In a sample of 6.6 million produced B mesons we have observed decays B -> eta' K, with branching fractions BR(B+ -> eta' K+ = 6.5 +1.5 -1.4 +- 0.9) x $10^{-5}$ and BR(B0 -> eta' K0 = 4.7 +2.7 -2.0 +- 0.9) x $10^{-5}$. We have searched with comparable sensitivity for 17 related decays to final states containing an eta or eta' meson accompanied by a single particle or low-lying resonance. Our upper limits for these constrain theoretical interpretations of the B -> eta' K signal.Comment: 12 page postscript file, postscript file also available through http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN

New Physics in b -> s mu+ mu-: CP-Violating Observables

We perform a comprehensive study of the impact of new-physics operators with different Lorentz structures on CP-violating observables involving the b -> s mu+ mu- transition. We examine the effects of new vector-axial vector (VA), scalar-pseudoscalar (SP) and tensor (T) interactions on the CP asymmetries in the branching ratios and forward-backward asymmetries of Bs -> mu mu, B -> Xs mu mu, Bs -> mu mu gamma, B -> K mu mu, and B -> K* mu mu. In B -> K* mu mu, we also explore the direct CP asymmetries in the longitudinal polarization fraction f_L and the angular asymmetries A_T^{(2)} and A_{LT}, as well as the triple-product CP asymmetries A_T^{(im)} and A^{(im)}_{LT}. We find that, in almost all cases, the CP-violating observables are sensitive only to new physics which involves VA operators. The VA new physics may therefore be unambiguously identified by a combined analysis of future measurements of these CP-violating observables.Comment: 26 pages, JHEP format, 21 figures. LaTeX error corrected, figures removed and changed, a comparison with previous literature added, references added and updated. Conclusions unchange

B-factory Physics from Effective Supersymmetry

We discuss how to extract non-Standard Model effects from B-factory phenomenology. We then analyze the prospects for uncovering evidence for Effective Supersymmetry, a class of supersymmetric models which naturally suppress flavor changing neutral currents and electric dipole moments without squark universality or small CP violating phases, in experiments at BaBar, BELLE, HERA-B, CDF/D0 and LHC-B.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, revtex, eps