Supersymmetric CP Violation in B→Xsl+l−B \to X_s l^+ l^- in Minimal Supergravity Model

Direct CP asymmetries and the CP violating normal polarization of lepton in inclusive decay B \to X_s l^+ l^- are investigated in minimal supergravity model with CP violating phases. The contributions coming from exchanging neutral Higgs bosons are included. It is shown that the direct CP violation in branching ratio, A_{CP}^1, is of {\cal{O}}(10^{-3}) for l=e, \mu, \tau. The CP violating normal polarization for l=\mu can reach 0.5 percent when tan\beta is large (say, 36). For l=\tau and in the case of large \tan\beta, the direct CP violation in backward-forward asymmetry, A_{CP}^2, can reach one percent, the normal polarization of \tau can be as large as a few percent, and both are sensitive to the two CP violating phases, \phi_\mu and \phi_{A_0}, and consequently it could be possible to observe them (in particular, the normal polarization of \tau) in the future B factories.Comment: 14 pages, latex, 5 figure

Resonant leptogenesis in a predictive SO(10) grand unified model

An SO(10) grand unified model considered previously by the authors featuring lopsided down quark and charged lepton mass matrices is successfully predictive and requires that the lightest two right-handed Majorana neutrinons be nearly degenerate in order to obtain the LMA solar neutrino solution. Here we use this model to test its predictions for baryogenesis through resonant-enhanced leptogenesis. With the conventional type I seesaw mechanism, the best predictions for baryogenesis appear to fall a factor of three short of the observed value. However, with a proposed type III seesaw mechanism leading to three pairs of massive pseudo-Dirac neutrinos, resonant leptogenesis is decoupled from the neutrino mass and mixing issues with successful baryogenesis easily obtained.Comment: 22 pages including 1 figure; published version with reference adde

Safety and Toxicity of Catheter Gene Delivery to the Pulmonary Vasculature in a Patient with Metastatic Melanoma

Overview summary Transcatheter delivery of HLA-B7 DNA and cationic liposomes into a segment of a pulmonary artery was safely performed in 1 patient with tumor nodules in the lung. No immunologic or organ toxicities were observed. Percutaneous catheter gene delivery has been performed in humans. Further refinements of this approach may lead to useful treatments for a variety of human diseases.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63196/1/hum.1994.5.9-1089.pd

Measuring Black Hole Spin using X-ray Reflection Spectroscopy

I review the current status of X-ray reflection (a.k.a. broad iron line) based black hole spin measurements. This is a powerful technique that allows us to measure robust black hole spins across the mass range, from the stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries to the supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei. After describing the basic assumptions of this approach, I lay out the detailed methodology focusing on "best practices" that have been found necessary to obtain robust results. Reflecting my own biases, this review is slanted towards a discussion of supermassive black hole (SMBH) spin in active galactic nuclei (AGN). Pulling together all of the available XMM-Newton and Suzaku results from the literature that satisfy objective quality control criteria, it is clear that a large fraction of SMBHs are rapidly-spinning, although there are tentative hints of a more slowly spinning population at high (M>5*10^7Msun) and low (M<2*10^6Msun) mass. I also engage in a brief review of the spins of stellar-mass black holes in X-ray binaries. In general, reflection-based and continuum-fitting based spin measures are in agreement, although there remain two objects (GROJ1655-40 and 4U1543-475) for which that is not true. I end this review by discussing the exciting frontier of relativistic reverberation, particularly the discovery of broad iron line reverberation in XMM-Newton data for the Seyfert galaxies NGC4151, NGC7314 and MCG-5-23-16. As well as confirming the basic paradigm of relativistic disk reflection, this detection of reverberation demonstrates that future large-area X-ray observatories such as LOFT will make tremendous progress in studies of strong gravity using relativistic reverberation in AGN.Comment: 19 pages. To appear in proceedings of the ISSI-Bern workshop on "The Physics of Accretion onto Black Holes" (8-12 Oct 2012). Revised version adds a missing source to Table 1 and Fig.6 (IRAS13224-3809) and corrects the referencing of the discovery of soft lags in 1H0707-495 (which were in fact first reported in Fabian et al. 2009

Worldwide experience with a totally subcutaneous implantable defibrillator: Early results from the EFFORTLESS S-ICD registry

Aims The totally subcutaneous implantable-defibrillator (S-ICD) is a new alternative to the conventional transveno

Performance of the subcutaneous implantable cardioverter-defibrillator in patients with a primary prevention indication with and without a reduced ejection fraction versus patients with a secondary prevention indication

Background: The subcutaneous implantable defibrillator (S-ICD) provides an alternative to the transvenous ICD for the prevention of sudden cardiac death, but has not been well studied in the most commonly treated transvenous ICD patient population, namely, primary prevention (PP) patients with left ventricular dysfunction. Objective: The analyses in the present study were designed to compar

Final analysis from RESONATE: Up to six years of follow‐up on ibrutinib in patients with previously treated chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma

Ibrutinib, a once‐daily oral inhibitor of Bruton's tyrosine kinase, is approved in the United States and Europe for treatment of patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL). The phase 3 RESONATE study showed improved efficacy of single‐agent ibrutinib over ofatumumab in patients with relapsed/refractory CLL/SLL, including those with high‐risk features. Here we report the final analysis from RESONATE with median follow‐up on study of 65.3 months (range, 0.3‐71.6) in the ibrutinib arm. Median progression‐free survival (PFS) remained significantly longer for patients randomized to ibrutinib vs ofatumumab (44.1 vs 8.1 months; hazard ratio [HR]: 0.148; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.113‐0.196; P˂.001). The PFS benefit with ibrutinib vs ofatumumab was preserved in the genomic high‐risk population with del(17p), TP53 mutation, del(11q), and/or unmutated IGHV status (median PFS 44.1 vs 8.0 months; HR: 0.110; 95% CI: 0.080‐0.152), which represented 82% of patients. Overall response rate with ibrutinib was 91% (complete response/complete response with incomplete bone marrow recovery, 11%). Overall survival, censored for crossover, was better with ibrutinib than ofatumumab (HR: 0.639; 95% CI: 0.418‐0.975). With up to 71 months (median 41 months) of ibrutinib therapy, the safety profile remained consistent with prior reports; cumulatively, all‐grade (grade ≥3) hypertension and atrial fibrillation occurred in 21% (9%) and 12% (6%) of patients, respectively. Only 16% discontinued ibrutinib because of adverse events (AEs). These long‐term results confirm the robust efficacy of ibrutinib in relapsed/refractory CLL/SLL irrespective of high‐risk clinical or genomic features, with no unexpected AEs. This trial is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01578707)

Muon anomalous magnetic moment in the standard model with two Higgs doublets

The muon anomalous magnetic moment is investigated in the standard model with two Higgs doublets (S2HDM) motivated from spontaneous CP violation. Thus all the effective Yukawa couplings become complex. As a consequence of the non-zero phase in the couplings, the one loop contribution from the neutral scalar bosons could be positive and negative relying on the CP phases. The interference between one and two loop diagrams can be constructive in a large parameter space of CP-phases. This will result in a significant contribution to muon anomalous magnetic moment even in the flavor conserving process with a heavy neutral scalar boson ($m_h \sim$ 200 GeV) once the effective muon Yukawa coupling is large ($|\xi_\mu|\sim 50$). In general, the one loop contributions from lepton flavor changing scalar interactions become more important. In particular, when all contributions are positive in a reasonable parameter space of CP phases, the recently reported 2.6 sigma experiment vs. theory deviation can be easily explained even for a heavy scalar boson with a relative small Yukawa coupling in the S2HDM.Comment: 8 pages, RevTex file, 5 figures, published version Phys. Rev. D 54 (2001) 11501

The learning curve associated with the introduction of the subcutaneous implantable defibrillator

Aims: The subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator (S-ICD) was introduced to overcome complications related to transvenous leads. Adoption of the S-ICD requires implanters to learn a new implantation technique. The aim of this study was to assess the learning curve for S-ICD implanters with respect to implant-related complications, procedure time, and inappropriate shocks (IASs). Methods and results: In a pooled cohort from two clinical S-ICD databases, the IDE Trial and the EFFORTLESS Registry, complications, IASs at 180 days follow-up and implant procedure duration were assessed. Patients were grouped in quartiles based on experience of the implanter and Kaplan-Meier estimates of complication and IAS rates were calculated. A total of 882 patients implanted in 61 centres by 107 implanters with a median of 4 implants (IQR 1,8) were analysed. There were a total of 59 patients with complications and 48 patients with IAS. The complication rate decreased significantly from 9.8% in Quartile 1 (least experience) to 5.4% in Quartile 4 (most experience) (P = 0.02) and non-significantly for IAS from 7.9 to 4.8% (P = 0.10). Multivariable analysis demonstrated a hazard ratio of 0.78 (P = 0.045) for complications and 1.01 (P = 0.958) for IAS. Dual-zone programming increased with experience of the individual implanter (P 13 implants). Conclusion: There is a short and significant learning curve associated with physicians adopting the S-ICD. Performance stab