Grand unified theory constrained supersymmetry and neutrinoless double beta decay

We analyze the contributions to the neutrinoless double $\beta$ decay ($0\nu\beta\beta$-decay) coming from the Grand Unified Theory (GUT) constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with trilinear R-parity breaking. We discuss the importance of two-nucleon and pion-exchange realizations of the quark-level $0\nu\beta\beta$-decay transitions. In this context, the questions of reliability of the calculated relevant nuclear matrix elements within the Renormalized Quasiparticle Random Phase Approximation (pn-RQRPA) for several medium and heavy open-shell nuclei are addressed. The importance of gluino and neutralino contributions to $0\nu\beta\beta$-decay is also analyzed. We review the present experiments and deduce limits on the trilinear R-parity breaking parameter $\lambda_{111}'$ from the non-observability of $0\nu\beta\beta$-decay for different GUT constrained SUSY scenarios. In addition, a detailed study of limits on the MSSM parameter space coming from the $B \to X_s \gamma$ processes by using the recent CLEO and OPAL results is performed. Some studies in respect to the future $0\nu\beta\beta$-decay project GENIUS are also presented.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figure

Evaluation of a rapid immunochromatographic assay for the detection and identification of Legionella spp. strains isolated from cultures

The Legionnaires’ disease is a major issue in the healthcare because it ranks among the emerging infectious diseases in our country, particularly those caused by Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1. The severity of the infection is related to several factors including the virulence of the bacterium and the immune status of patient. Since the clinical diagnosis of Legionella infections or pneumonia with different etiology is extremely difficult, the use of new diagnostic techniques in rapid identification plays a key role. The aim of our study was to evaluate the performance of a new immunochromatographic assay can detect and identify strains of Legionella spp. from the cultures

Comparison of three assays currently used for diagnosis of legionellosis

The laboratory diagnosis of Legionnaires’ disease is extremely complex due to the difficulty of isolating and identifying the etiological agent in a short time and also for the frequent late appearance of antibodies. For this reason it should use not only the cultures but also other diagnostic tests such as urinary antigen and antibody research. Our study evaluated the performance of these methods.We calculated the positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV), sensitivity and specificity of each test