3,019 research outputs found
A Data-Driven Decision Support System for Scoliosis Prognosis
published_or_final_versio
The cost of tobacco-related disease
Health Services Research Fund & Health Care and Promotion Fund: Research Dissemination Reports (Series 2)published_or_final_versio
Heterologous influenza vRNA segments with identical non-coding sequences stimulate viral RNA replication in trans
The initiation of transcription and replication of influenza A virus requires the 5' and 3' ends of vRNA. Here, the role of segment-specific non-coding sequences of influenza A virus on viral RNA synthesis was studied. Recombinant viruses, with the nonstructural protein (NS) segment-specific non-coding sequences replaced by the corresponding sequences of the neuraminidase (NA) segment, were characterized. The NS and NA vRNA levels in cells infected with these mutants were much higher than those of the wild type, whereas the NS and NA mRNA levels of the mutants were comparable to the wild-type levels. By contrast, the PB2 vRNA and mRNA levels of all the tested viruses were similar, indicating that vRNA with heterologous segment-specific non-coding sequences was not affected by the mutations. The observations suggested that, with the cooperation between the homologous 5' and 3'segment-specific sequences, the introduced mutations could specifically enhance the replication of NA and NS vRNA
Tame D-tadpoles in gauge mediation
We revisit models of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking where messenger
parity is violated. Such a symmetry is usually invoked in order to set to zero
potentially dangerous hypercharge D-term tadpoles. A milder hypothesis is that
the D-tadpole vanishes only at the first order in the gauge coupling constant.
Then the next order leads to a contribution to the sfermion masses which is of
the same magnitude as the usual radiative one. This enlarges the parameter
space of gauge mediated models. We first give a completely general
characterization of this contribution, in terms of particular three-point
functions of hidden sector current multiplet operators. We then explore the
parameter space by means of two simple weakly coupled models, where the
D-tadpole arising at two-loops has actually a mild logarithmic divergence.Comment: 13 pages + 9 pages of appendix, 1 figure; v2: some clarifying
comments added, version to appear in JHE
Axion Protection from Flavor
The QCD axion fails to solve the strong CP problem unless all explicit PQ
violating, Planck-suppressed, dimension n<10 operators are forbidden or have
exponentially small coefficients. We show that all theories with a QCD axion
contain an irreducible source of explicit PQ violation which is proportional to
the determinant of the Yukawa interaction matrix of colored fermions.
Generically, this contribution is of low operator dimension and will
drastically destabilize the axion potential, so its suppression is a necessary
condition for solving the strong CP problem. We propose a mechanism whereby the
PQ symmetry is kept exact up to n=12 with the help of the very same flavor
symmetries which generate the hierarchical quark masses and mixings of the SM.
This "axion flavor protection" is straightforwardly realized in theories which
employ radiative fermion mass generation and grand unification. A universal
feature of this construction is that the heavy quark Yukawa couplings are
generated at the PQ breaking scale.Comment: 16 pages, 2 figure
Dirac Gauginos, Negative Supertraces and Gauge Mediation
In an attempt to maximize General Gauge Mediated parameter space, I propose
simple models in which gauginos and scalars are generated from disconnected
mechanisms. In my models Dirac gauginos are generated through the supersoft
mechanism, while independent R-symmetric scalar masses are generated through
operators involving non-zero messenger supertrace. I propose several new
methods for generating negative messenger supertraces which result in viable
positive mass squareds for MSSM scalars. The resultant spectra are novel,
compressed and may contain light fermionic SM adjoint fields.Comment: 16 pages 3 figure
Dynamical completions of generalized O'Raifeartaigh models
We present gauge theory completions of Wess-Zumino models admitting
supersymmetry breaking vacua with spontaneously broken R-symmetry. Our models
are simple deformations of generalized ITIY models, a supersymmetric theory
with gauge group Sp(N), N+1 flavors plus singlets, with a modified tree level
superpotential which explicitly breaks (part of) the global symmetry. Depending
on the nature of the deformation, we obtain effective O'Raifeartaigh-like
models whose pseudomoduli space is locally stable in a neighborhood of the
origin of field space, or in a region not including it. Hence, once embedded in
direct gauge mediation scenarios, our models can give low energy spectra with
either suppressed or unsuppressed gaugino mass.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figure; v3: reference adde
Chiral U(1) flavor models and flavored Higgs doublets: the top FB asymmetry and the Wjj
We present U(1) flavor models for leptophobic Z' with flavor dependent
couplings to the right-handed up-type quarks in the Standard Model, which can
accommodate the recent data on the top forward-backward (FB) asymmetry and the
dijet resonance associated with a W boson reported by CDF Collaboration. Such
flavor-dependent leptophobic charge assignments generally require extra chiral
fermions for anomaly cancellation. Also the chiral nature of U(1)' flavor
symmetry calls for new U(1)'-charged Higgs doublets in order for the SM
fermions to have realistic renormalizable Yukawa couplings. The stringent
constraints from the top FB asymmetry at the Tevatron and the same sign top
pair production at the LHC can be evaded due to contributions of the extra
Higgs doublets. We also show that the extension could realize cold dark matter
candidates.Comment: 40 pages, 10 figures, added 1 figure and extended discussion,
accepted for publication in JHE
Supersymmetry in the shadow of photini
Additional neutral gauge fermions -- "photini" -- arise in string
compactifications as superpartners of U(1) gauge fields. Unlike their vector
counterparts, the photini can acquire weak-scale masses from soft SUSY breaking
and lead to observable signatures at the LHC through mass mixing with the bino.
In this work we investigate the collider consequences of adding photini to the
neutralino sector of the MSSM. Relatively large mixing of one or more photini
with the bino can lead to prompt decays of the lightest ordinary supersymmetric
particle; these extra cascades transfer most of the energy of SUSY decay chains
into Standard Model particles, diminishing the power of missing energy as an
experimental handle for signal discrimination. We demonstrate that the missing
energy in SUSY events with photini is reduced dramatically for supersymmetric
spectra with MSSM neutralinos near the weak scale, and study the effects on
limits set by the leading hadronic SUSY searches at ATLAS and CMS. We find that
in the presence of even one light photino the limits on squark masses from
hadronic searches can be reduced by 400 GeV, with comparable (though more
modest) reduction of gluino mass limits. We also consider potential discovery
channels such as dilepton and multilepton searches, which remain sensitive to
SUSY spectra with photini and can provide an unexpected route to the discovery
of supersymmetry. Although presented in the context of photini, our results
apply in general to theories in which additional light neutral fermions mix
with MSSM gauginos.Comment: 23 pages, 8 figures, references adde
Entangled-State Cycles of Atomic Collective-Spin States
We study quantum trajectories of collective atomic spin states of
effective two-level atoms driven with laser and cavity fields. We show that
interesting ``entangled-state cycles'' arise probabilistically when the (Raman)
transition rates between the two atomic levels are set equal. For odd (even)
, there are () possible cycles. During each cycle the
-qubit state switches, with each cavity photon emission, between the states
, where is a Dicke state in a rotated
collective basis. The quantum number (), which distinguishes the
particular cycle, is determined by the photon counting record and varies
randomly from one trajectory to the next. For even it is also possible,
under the same conditions, to prepare probabilistically (but in steady state)
the Dicke state , i.e., an -qubit state with excitations,
which is of particular interest in the context of multipartite entanglement.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
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