Near-threshold production of a0(980) mesons in the reaction pp -> d K^+ \bar{K}^0

Using an effective Lagrangian approach as well as the Quark-Gluon Strings Model we analyze near-threshold production of a0(980)-mesons in the reaction NN -> d K \bar{K} as well as the background of non-resonant K\bar{K}-pair production. We argue that the reaction pp -> d K^+ \bar{K}^0 at an energy release Q<=100 MeV is dominated by the intermediate production of the a0(980)-resonance. At larger energies the non-resonant K^+\bar{K}^0-pair production - where the kaons are produced in a relative P-wave - becomes important. Then effects of final-state interactions are evaluated in a unitarized scattering-length approach and found to be in the order of a 20% suppression close to threshold. Thus in present experiments at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-J\"ulich for Q<=107 MeV the a_0^+ signal can reliably be separated from the non-resonant K^+\bar{K^0} background.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, submitted to EPJ

a0(980)-f0(980) mixing and isospin violation in the reactions pN -> d a0, pd -> 3He/3H a0 and dd -> 4He a0

It is demonstrated that f_0-a_0 mixing can lead to a comparatively large isospin violation in the reactions pN -> da_0, pd -> ^3He/^3H a_0 and dd -> ^4He a_0 close to the corresponding production thresholds. The observation of such mixing effects is possible, e.g., by measuring the forward-backward asymmetry in the reaction pn -> d a_0^0 -> d eta pi^0.Comment: 14 pages, 5 figure

Production of a0a_0-mesons in the reactions πN→a0N\pi N \to a_0 N and pp→da0+p p \to d a_0^+ at GeV energies

We investigate the reactions $\pi N \to a_0 N$ and $p p \to d a_0^+$ near threshold and at medium energies. An effective Lagragian approach and the Regge pole model are applied to analyze different contributions to the cross section of the reaction $\pi N \to a_0 N$. These results are used to calculate the differential and total cross sections of the reaction $p p \to d a_0^+$ within the framework of the two-step model in which two nucleons produce an $a_0$-meson via $\pi$ -meson exchange and fuse to a deuteron. The necessity of new measurements on $a_0$ production and branching fractions (of its decay to the $K\bar K$ and $\pi\eta$ channels) is emphasized for clarifying the $a_0$ structure. Detailed predictions for the reaction $pp \to d a_0^+$ are presented for the energy regime of the proton synchrotron COSY-J\"ulich.Comment: 9 pages, including 6 eps figure

Phylogeography of Japanese encephalitis virus:genotype is associated with climate

The circulation of vector-borne zoonotic viruses is largely determined by the overlap in the geographical distributions of virus-competent vectors and reservoir hosts. What is less clear are the factors influencing the distribution of virus-specific lineages. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is the most important etiologic agent of epidemic encephalitis worldwide, and is primarily maintained between vertebrate reservoir hosts (avian and swine) and culicine mosquitoes. There are five genotypes of JEV: GI-V. In recent years, GI has displaced GIII as the dominant JEV genotype and GV has re-emerged after almost 60 years of undetected virus circulation. JEV is found throughout most of Asia, extending from maritime Siberia in the north to Australia in the south, and as far as Pakistan to the west and Saipan to the east. Transmission of JEV in temperate zones is epidemic with the majority of cases occurring in summer months, while transmission in tropical zones is endemic and occurs year-round at lower rates. To test the hypothesis that viruses circulating in these two geographical zones are genetically distinct, we applied Bayesian phylogeographic, categorical data analysis and phylogeny-trait association test techniques to the largest JEV dataset compiled to date, representing the envelope (E) gene of 487 isolates collected from 12 countries over 75 years. We demonstrated that GIII and the recently emerged GI-b are temperate genotypes likely maintained year-round in northern latitudes, while GI-a and GII are tropical genotypes likely maintained primarily through mosquito-avian and mosquito-swine transmission cycles. This study represents a new paradigm directly linking viral molecular evolution and climate

Proposed Search for a00(980)−f0(980)a^0_0(980)-f_0(980) Mixing in Polarization Phenomena

The $K^+$ and $K^0$ meson mass difference induces the mixing of the $a^0_0(980)$ and $f_0(980)$ resonances, the amplitude of which, between the $K^+K^-$ and $K^0\bar K^0$ thresholds, is large in magnitude, of the order of $m_{K}\sqrt{m^2_{K^0}-m^2_{K^+}}\approx\sqrt\alpha m^2_K$, and possesses the phase sharply varying by about 90$^\circ$. We suggest performing the polarized target experiments on the reaction $\pi^-p\to\eta\pi^0n$ at high energy in which the fact of the existence of $a^0_0(980)-f_0(980)$ mixing can be unambiguously and very easily established through the presence of a strong jump in the azimuthal asymmetry of the $\eta\pi^0$ $S$ wave production cross section near the $K\bar K$ thresholds. The presented estimates of the polarization effect to be expected in experiment are to a great extent model independent.Comment: RevTeX, 9 pages, 1 figure. A number of typographical and grammatical errors correcte

Measurement of the isospin-filtering dd -> 4He K+ K- reaction at Q=39 MeV

The total cross section for the dd -> 4He K+ K- reaction has been measured at a beam momentum of 3.7 GeV/c, corresponding to an excess energy of 39 MeV, which is the maximum possible at the Cooler Synchrotron COSY-J\"{u}lich. A deuterium cluster-jet target and the ANKE forward magnetic spectrometer, placed inside the storage ring, have been employed in this investigation. We find a total cross section of sigma(tot) < 14 pb, which brings into question the viability of investigating the dd -> 4He a0(980) reaction as a means of studying isospin violation.Comment: Five pages with three eps figure