Lepton Flavour Violation in a Supersymmetric Model with A4 Flavour Symmetry

We compute the branching ratios for mu-> e gamma, tau-> mu gamma and tau -> e gamma in a supersymmetric model invariant under the flavour symmetry group A4 X Z3 X U(1)_{FN}, in which near tri-bimaximal lepton mixing is naturally predicted. At leading order in the small symmetry breaking parameter u, which is of the same order as the reactor mixing angle theta_{13}, we find that the branching ratios generically scale as u^2. Applying the current bound on the branching ratio of mu -> e gamma shows that small values of u or tan(beta) are preferred in the model for mass parameters m_{SUSY} and m_{1/2} smaller than 1000 GeV. The bound expected from the on-going MEG experiment will provide a severe constraint on the parameter space of the model either enforcing u approx 0.01 and small tan(beta) or m_{SUSY} and m_{1/2} above 1000 GeV. In the special case of universal soft supersymmetry breaking terms in the flavon sector a cancellation takes place in the amplitudes and the branching ratios scale as u^4, allowing for smaller slepton masses. The branching ratios for tau -> mu gamma and tau -> e gamma are predicted to be of the same order as the one for mu -> e gamma, which precludes the possibility of observing these tau decays in the near future.Comment: 44 page

Increased values of the circulating PDGFβ sustains the "withdrawal syndrome" after tyrosine kinase inhibitor discontinuation in patients affected by chronic myeloid leukemia

increased levels of PDGFB would sustain the withdrawn syndrome after TKIs discontinuation in patients affected by chronic myeloid leukemi

A New Algorithm Integrating Molecular Response, Toxicity, and Plasma Level Measures for Ponatinib Dose Choice in Patients Affected by Chronic Myeloid Leukemia

Ponatinib may be effective in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients after failure of first/second line therapies. Although its efficacy for minimum plasma concentrations (C-min) is >21.3 ng/mL (equal to 40 nM), ponatinib may cause adverse events (AE) that require dose optimization. The present study was aimed at investigating any possible correlations among ponatinib dose, plasma concentration, molecular response (MR), and tolerability in a real-world setting. Clinical and laboratory records (including MR and drug plasma concentrations) of 32 CML patients treated with ponatinib were harvested and analyzed. Twenty-seven patients (71%) had ponatinib C-min values > 21.3 ng/mL, but C-min values > 10.7 ng/mL (considered efficacious in BCR-Abl unmutated patients) were achieved by 80% of the patients receiving >= 30 mg/day and 45% of the subjects treated with 15 mg/day. No significant correlations were identified among clinical efficacy, tolerability, daily dose, and plasma concentration. Notably, patients who underwent dose tapering for tolerability or safety reasons did not experience treatment failure. In a real-world setting, adjustment of ponatinib daily doses lower than those registered may maintain therapeutic efficacy while reducing the risk of vascular events and improving tolerability. Further studies are warranted to confirm the present results in a larger cohort of patients

Real-Time PCR and Droplet Digital PCR: Two techniques for detection of the JAK2^V617F mutation in Philadelphia-negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms

Philadelphia-negative chronic myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are clonal disorders that present JAK2V617F mutation in 50-95% of cases. The main objective of this study was the comparison of two PCR methods, real-time (qPCR) and droplet digital PCR (DD-PCR) for detection of the JAK2V617F mutation, to assess analytic sensitivity, specificity, and feasibility of the two methods. METHODS: Ninety-nine patients with MPN of 225 presenting the JAK2V617F mutation by qPCR have been evaluated by DD-PCR also. RESULTS: We demonstrated an absolute concordance in terms of specificity between the two methods, DD-PCR showing a higher sensitivity (half a log higher than qPCR). As expected, a progressive increase of mutant allele burden was observed from essential thrombocythemia (ET) to polycythemia vera (PV) and primary myelofibrosis (PMF) to secondary myelofibrosis (SMF). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, our study showed that DD-PCR could represent a new and promising technological evolution for detection of JAK2 mutation in MPNs

How Age, Comorbidities and Concomitant Medications Influence Ibrutinib Management and Survival in Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia

Although Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia (WM) typically affects the elderly, no studies so far have specifically addressed the impact of age, comorbidities, ECOG-PS and concomitant medications on treatment outcomes. Data on WM receiving ibrutinib outside of clinical trials are sparse, showing 18-20% and 8-35% of pts requiring permanent dose reduction (PDR) and toxicity-related definitive treatment discontinuation (Tox-DTD). Furthermore, the impact of polypharmacy and drug interference while on ibrutinib is still unexplored. The aim of this study is to evaluate which fitness parameters are significant for treatment outcome and management in patients with WM receiving ibrutinib in clinical practic

Measurement of B0→Ds(*)+D*- branching fractions and B0→Ds*+D*- polarization with a partial reconstruction technique

We present a study of the decays B0→Ds(*)+D*-, using 20.8 fb-1 of e+e- annihilation data recorded with the BABAR detector. The analysis is conducted with a partial reconstruction technique, in which only the Ds(*)+ and the soft pion from the D*- decay are reconstructed. We measure the branching fractions B(B0→Ds+D*-)=(1.03±0.14±0.13±0.26)% and B(B0→Ds*+D*-)=(1.97±0.15±0.30±0.49)%, where the first error is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third is the error due to the Ds+→φπ+ branching fraction uncertainty. From the B0→Ds*+D*- angular distributions, we measure the fraction of longitudinal polarization ΓL/Γ=(51.9±5.0±2.8)%, which is consistent with theoretical predictions based on factorization

Measurements of Branching Fractions and Dalitz Distributions for B0→D(*)±K0π∓ Decays

We present measurements of the branching fractions for the three-body decays B0→D(*)∓K0π± and their resonant submodes B0→D(*)∓K*± using a sample of approximately 88×106 BB̅ pairs collected by the BABAR detector at the SLAC PEP-II asymmetric energy storage ring. We measure: B(B0→D∓K0π±)=(4.9±0.7stat±0.5syst)×10-4, B(B0→D*∓K0π±)=(3.0±0.7stat±0.3syst)×10-4, B(B0→D∓K*±)=(4.6±0.6stat±0.5syst)×10-4, B(B0→D*∓K*±)=(3.2±0.6stat±0.3syst)×10-4. From these measurements we determine the fractions of resonant events to be f(B0→D∓K*±)=0.63±0.08stat±0.04syst and f(B0→D*∓K*±)=0.72±0.14stat±0.05syst

Measurement of the Branching Fractions and CP Asymmetry of B-→D(CP)0K- Decays with the BABAR Detector

The measurement of R, Rcp+, and Acp+ were presented. B- → D° K-decays with D° mesons decaying to non-CP and CP-even eigenstates were reconstructed. It was observed that the charged-particle tracking was provided by a five-layer silicon vertex tracker (SVT). It was shown that the parametrization of the particle identication PDF was performed by fitting with a Gaussian distribution

Search for the Rare Decays B0→Ds(∗)+a0(2)−B^0 \to D_s^{(*)+} a_{0(2)}^-

8 pages, 8 postscript figures, submitted to PRD-RCWe have searched for the decays $B^0 \rightarrow D_s^{+}a_0^-$, $B^0 \rightarrow D_s^{*+}a_0^-$, $B^0 \rightarrow D_s^{+}a_2^-$ and $B^0 \rightarrow D_s^{*+}a_2^-$ in a sample of about 230 million $\Upsilon(4S) \rightarrow B{\bar B}$ decays collected with the {\sl BaBar} detector at the PEP-II asymmetric-energy $B$-factory at SLAC. We find no evidence for these decays and set upper limits at 90\% C.L. on the branching fractions: ${\cal B}(B^0 \rightarrow D_s^+ a_0^-) < 1.9\times 10^{-5}$, ${\cal B}(B^0 \rightarrow D_s^{*+} a_0^-) < 3.6\times 10^{-5}$, ${\cal B}(B^0 \rightarrow D_s^+ a_2^-) < 1.9 \times 10^{-4}$, and ${\cal B}(B^0 \rightarrow D_s^{*+} a_2^-) < 2.0\times 10^{-4}$