Quantum power correction to the Newton law

We have found the graviton contribution to the one-loop quantum correction to the Newton law. This correction results in interaction decreasing with distance as 1/r^3 and is dominated numerically by the graviton contribution. The previous calculations of this contribution to the discussed effect are demonstrated to be incorrect.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; numerical error corrected, few references adde

Methods of selecting and using therapeutic and prophylactic probiotic cultures to reduce bacterial pathogen loads

Methods are provided for selecting a bacterium capable of reducing pathogenic bacterial colonization of the intestinal tract in a subject comprising selecting the bacterium capable of migrating at least 0.75 cm from the point of inoculation on motility agar after incubation for 24 hours at 37° C. It is also capable of migrating from the point of inoculation to a diameter of at least 1.5 cm based on the farthest colonies from the point of inoculation on motility agar after incubation for 24 hours at 37° C. Bacteria selected using the method and compositions comprising these bacteria are also provided

The anthropic principle and the mass scale of the Standard Model

In theories in which different regions of the universe can have different values of the the physical parameters, we would naturally find ourselves in a region which has parameters favorable for life. We explore the range of anthropically allowed values of the mass parameter in the Higgs potential, $\mu^2$. For $\mu^2<0$, the requirement that complex elements be formed suggests that the Higgs vacuum expectation value $v$ must have a magnitude less than 5 times its observed value. For $\mu^2>0$, baryon stability requires that $|\mu|<<M_P$, the Planck Mass. Smaller values of $|\mu^2|$ may or may not be allowed depending on issues of element synthesis and stellar evolution. We conclude that the observed value of $\mu^2$ is reasonably typical of the anthropically allowed range, and that anthropic arguments provide a plausible explanation for the closeness of the QCD scale and the weak scale.Comment: 28 pages, LaTeX. No changes from version originally submitted to archive, except that problem with figure file has been correcte

Widespread occurrence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA from 18th-19th century Hungarians

A large number (265) of burials from 1731-1838 were discovered in sealed crypts of the Dominican Church, Vac, Hungary in 1994. Many bodies were naturally mummified, so that both soft tissues and bones were available. Contemporary archives enabled the determination of age at death, and the identification of family groups. In some cases, symptoms before death were described and, occasionally, occupation. Initial radiological examination of a small number of individuals had indicated calcified lung lesions and demonstrable acid-fast bacteria suggestive of tuberculosis infection. Tuberculosis was endemic in 18th-19th century Europe, so human remains should contain detectable Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB) DNA, enabling comparisons with modern isolates. Therefore, a comprehensive examination of 168 individuals for the presence of MTB DNA was undertaken. Specific DNA amplification methods for MTB showed that 55% of individuals were positive and that the incidence varied according to age at death and sampling site in the body. Radiographs were obtained from 27 individuals and revealed an association between gross pathology and the presence of MTB DNA. There was an inverse relationship between PCR positivity and MTB target sequence size. In some cases, the preservation of MTB DNA was excellent, and several target gene sequences could be detected from the same sample. This information, combined with MTB DNA sequencing data and molecular typing techniques, will enable us to study the past epidemiology of TB infection, and extends the timeframe for studying changes in molecular fingerprints. Am J Phys Anthropol 120:144-152, 2003. (C) 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc

The Mixed Vector Current Correlator <0|T(V^3_\mu V^8_\nu )|0> To Two Loops in Chiral Perturbation Theory

The isospin-breaking correlator of the product of flavor octet vector currents, $V^3_\mu$ and $V^8_\nu$, $\Pi^{38}_{\mu\nu}(q^2)$ is computed to next-to-next- to-leading (two-loop) order in Chiral Perturbation Theory. Large corrections to both the magnitude and $q^2$-dependence of the one-loop result are found, and the reasons for the slow convergence of the chiral series for the correlator given. The two-loop expression involves a single ${\cal O}(q^6)$ counterterm, present also in the two-loop expressions for $\Pi^{33}_{\mu\nu}(q^2)$ and $\Pi^{88}_{\mu\nu}(q^2)$, which counterterm contributes a constant to the scalar correlator $\Pi^{38}(q^2)$. The feasibility of extracting the value of this counterterm from other sources is discussed. Analysis of the slope of the correlator with respect to $q^2$ using QCD sum rules is shown to suggest that, even to two-loop order, the chiral series for the correlator may not yet be well-converged.Comment: 32 pages, uses REVTEX and epsfig.sty with 7 uuencoded figures. Entire manuscript available as a ps file at http://www.physics.adelaide.edu.au/theory/home.html Also available via anonymous ftp at ftp://adelphi.adelaide.edu.au/pub/theory/ADP-95-27.T181.p

Absorptive part of meson--baryon scattering amplitude and baryon polarization in chiral perturbation theory

We compute the spin asymmetry and polarization of the final-state baryon in its rest frame in two-body meson--baryon low-energy scattering with unpolarized initial state, to lowest non-trivial order in BChPT. The required absorptive amplitudes are obtained analytically at one-loop level. We discuss the polarization results numerically for several meson--baryon processes. Even at low energies above threshold, where BChPT can reasonably be expected to be applicable, sizable values of polarization are found for some processes

Photon-Photon Scattering, Pion Polarizability and Chiral Symmetry

Recent attempts to detect the pion polarizability via analysis of $\gamma\gamma\rightarrow\pi\pi$ measurements are examined. The connection between calculations based on dispersion relations and on chiral perturbation theory is established by matching the low energy chiral amplitude with that given by a full dispersive treatment. Using the values for the polarizability required by chiral symmetry, predicted and experimental cross sections are shown to be in agreement.Comment: 21 pages(+10 figures available on request), LATEX, UMHEP-38

Fermion masses in noncommutative geometry

Recent indications of neutrino oscillations raise the question of the possibility of incorporating massive neutrinos in the formulation of the Standard Model (SM) within noncommutative geometry (NCG). We find that the NCG requirement of Poincare duality constrains the numbers of massless quarks and neutrinos to be unequal unless new fermions are introduced. Possible scenarios in which this constraint is satisfied are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX; typos are corrected in (19), "Possible Solutions" and "Conclusion" are modified; additional calculational details are included; references are update

On the Ultraviolet Behaviour of Newton's constant

We clarify a point concerning the ultraviolet behaviour of the Quantum Field Theory of gravity, under the assumption of the existence of an ultraviolet Fixed Point. We explain why Newton's constant should to scale like the inverse of the square of the cutoff, even though it is technically inessential. As a consequence of this behaviour, the existence of an UV Fixed Point would seem to imply that gravity has a built-in UV cutoff when described in Planck units, but not necessarily in other units.Comment: 8 pages; CQG class; minor changes and rearrangement

Final state rescattering as a contribution to B→ργB \to \rho \gamma

We provide a new estimate of the long-distance component to the radiative transition $B \to \rho \gamma$. Our mechanism involves the soft-scattering of on-shell hadronic products of nonleptonic $B$ decay, as in the chain $B \to \rho\rho \to \rho\gamma$. We employ a phenomenological fit to scattering data to estimate the effect. The specific intermediate states considered here modify the $B \to \rho \gamma$ decay rate at roughly the $5 \to 8$ level, although the underlying effect has the potential to be larger. Contrary to other mechanisms of long distance physics which have been discussed in the literature, this yields a non-negligible modification of the $B^0 \to \rho^0 \gamma$ channel and hence will provide an uncertainty in the extraction of $V_{td}$. This mechanism also affects the isospin relation between the rates for $B^- \to \rho^-\gamma$ and $B^0 \to \rho^0 \gamma$ and may generate CP asymmetries at experimentally observable levels.Comment: 15 pages, RevTex, 3 figure