On-shell Techniques and Universal Results in Quantum Gravity

We compute the leading post-Newtonian and quantum corrections to the Coulomb and Newtonian potentials using the full modern arsenal of on-shell techniques; we employ spinor-helicity variables everywhere, use the Kawai-Lewellen-Tye (KLT) relations to derive gravity amplitudes from gauge theory and use unitarity methods to extract the terms needed at one-loop order. We stress that our results are universal and thus will hold in any quantum theory of gravity with the same low-energy degrees of freedom as we are considering. Previous results for the corrections to the same potentials, derived historically using Feynman graphs, are verified explicitly, but our approach presents a huge simplification, since starting points for the computations are compact and tedious index contractions and various complicated integral reductions are eliminated from the onset, streamlining the derivations. We also analyze the spin dependence of the results using the KLT factorization, and show how the spinless correction in the framework are easily seen to be independent of the interacting matter considered.Comment: 34 pages, 7 figures, typos corrected, published versio

Constraints on the variability of quark masses from nuclear binding

Based on recent work on nuclear binding, we update and extend the anthropic constraints on the light quark masses, with results that are more tightly constrained than previously obtained. We find that heavy nuclei would fall apart (because the attractive nuclear central potential becomes too weak) if the sum of the light quark masses m_u+m_d would exceed their physical values by 64% (at 95% confidence level). We summarize the anthropic constraints that follow from requiring the existence both of heavy atoms and of hydrogen. With the additional assumption that the quark Yukawa couplings do not vary, these constraints provide a remarkably tight anthropic window for the Higgs vacuum expectation value: 0.39 < v/v_physical < 1.64.Comment: 21 pages, 7 figure

On the parameterization dependence of the energy momentum tensor and the metric

We use results by Kirilin to show that in general relativity the nonleading terms in the energy-momentum tensor of a particle depends on the parameterization of the gravitational field. While the classical metric that is calculated from this source, used to define the leading long-distance corrections to the metric, also has a parameteriztion dependence, it can be removed by a coordinate change. Thus the classical observables are parameterization independent. The quantum effects that emerge within the same calculation of the metric also depend on the parameterization and a full quantum calculation requires the inclusion of further diagrams. However, within a given parameterization the quantum effects calculated by us in a previous paper are well defined. Flaws of Kirilin's proposed alternate metric definition are described and we explain why the diagrams that we calculated are the appropriate ones.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figure

Oncogenic fusion protein BCR-FGFR1 requires the breakpoint cluster region-mediated oligomerization and chaperonin Hsp90 for activation.

Mutation and translocation of fibroblast growth factor receptors often lead to aberrant signaling and cancer. This work focuses on the t(8;22)(p11;q11) chromosomal translocation which creates the breakpoint cluster region (BCR) fibroblast growth factor receptor1 (FGFR1) (BCR-FGFR1) fusion protein. This fusion occurs in stem cell leukemia/lymphoma, which can progress to atypical chronic myeloid leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, or B-cell lymphoma. This work focuses on the biochemical characterization of BCR-FGFR1 and identification of novel therapeutic targets. The tyrosine kinase activity of FGFR1 is required for biological activity as shown using transformation assays, interleukin-3 independent cell proliferation, and liquid chromatography/mass spectroscopy analyses. Furthermore, BCR contributes a coiled-coil oligomerization domain, also essential for oncogenic transformation by BCR-FGFR1. The importance of salt bridge formation within the coiled-coil domain is demonstrated, as disruption of three salt bridges abrogates cellular transforming ability. Lastly, BCR-FGFR1 acts as a client of the chaperonin heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), suggesting that BCR-FGFR1 relies on Hsp90 complex to evade proteasomal degradation. Transformed cells expressing BCR-FGFR1 are sensitive to the Hsp90 inhibitor Ganetespib, and also respond to combined treatment with Ganetespib plus the FGFR inhibitor BGJ398. Collectively, these data suggest novel therapeutic approaches for future stem cell leukemia/lymphoma treatment: inhibition of BCR oligomerization by disruption of required salt bridges; and inhibition of the chaperonin Hsp90 complex

The provision and utilisation of casemix and demographic data by nursing managers in seven hospitals.

The role of the nursing manager has evolved from clinician and bed manager to one with greater accountability for evidence based practice, benchmarking and more recently, budget liability. Casemix data are widely believed to be a means of providing essential information for effective decision making and financial management but have not been widely utilised by nursing managers (Diers & Bozzo, 1999). This paper will report the results of a survey of nursing managers in seven hospitals within a metropolitan area health service. The hospitals include tertiary referral hospitals, specialist public hospitals and an affiliated public hospital for aged care and rehabilitation services. The survey sought to establish what casemix and related data were provided to nurse managers, who provided these data and how supplied data were utilised by the nurse managers. Results demonstrated that the majority of nursing managers surveyed received minimal (if any) casemix and/or demographic data on a routine basis. Some were provided with data in response to specific requests. The information that was provided varied both within and across hospitals, and no consistent methods of data distribution were available. Few nursing managers believed that the information provided aided their decision-making processes partly due to the minimalist nature of provided data while some nursing managers demonstrated a lack of understanding of the potential benefit of casemix data as a resource to support management decision making

ΔS=1\Delta S = 1 Hadronic Weak Decays of Hyperons in a Soliton Model

We study the parity violating hyperon non-leptonic weak decays in the three flavor Skyrme model. We follow the approach in which the symmetry breaking terms in the action are diagonalized exactly within the collective coordinate approximation. We show that although this method introduces some configuration mixing, the $\Delta I =1/2$ rule is numerically well satisfied. In addition, and in contrast to previous calculations, we show that not only the relative amplitudes are in good agreement with the empirical values but also their absolute values. The issue of whether the strong interaction enhancement factors should be included in soliton calculations is also addressed.Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, no figure

Updating the Bogardus social distance studies: A new national survey

The last quarter of the 20th century witnessed a number of events and social transformations that have had great implications for religious and ethnic relations around the world. This study seeks to gauge the changes in sentiment towards various U.S. ethnic and religious groups by updating and replicating the Bogardus social distance scale. The Bogardus study, which was designed to measure the level of acceptance that Americans feel towards members of the most common ethnic groups in the United States, was conducted five times between 1920 and 1977 with very few changes in research design. Consistent with prior replications, the authors of this study collected a random sample of 2,916 college students and administered the social distance scale in the form of a questionnaire. The findings indicate that the mean level of social distance towards all ethnic groups, as well as the spread between the groups with the highest and lowest levels of social distance, decreased since 1977. Mean comparisons and ANOVA test also showed that gender, nation of origin, and race are all significant indicators of the level of social distance towards all groups

Asymptotic Limits and Structure of the Pion Form Factor

We use dispersive techniques to address the behavior of the pion form factor as $Q^2 \to \infty$ and $Q^2 \to 0$. We perform the matching with the constraints of perturbative QCD and chiral perturbation theory in the high energy and low energy limits, leading to four sum rules. We present a version of the dispersive input which is consistent with the data and with all theoretical constraints. The results indicate that the asymptotic perturbative QCD limit is approached relatively slowly, and give a model independent determination of low energy chiral parameters.Comment: 8 pages, Latex, 2 figure

Histology and affinity of anaspids, and the early evolution of the vertebrate dermal skeleton

The assembly of the gnathostome bodyplan constitutes a formative episode in vertebrate evolutionary history, an interval in which the mineralized skeleton and its canonical suite of cell and tissue types originated. Fossil jawless fishes, assigned to the gnathostome stem-lineage, provide an unparalleled insight into the origin and evolution of the skeleton, hindered only by uncertainty over the phylogenetic position and evolutionary significance of key clades. Chief among these are the jawless anaspids, whose skeletal composition, a rich source of phylogenetic information, is poorly characterized. Here we survey the histology of representatives spanning anaspid diversity and infer their generalized skeletal architecture. The anaspid dermal skeleton is composed of odontodes comprising spheritic dentine and enameloid, overlying a basal layer of acellular parallel fibre bone containing an extensive shallow canal network. A recoded and revised phylogenetic analysis using equal and implied weights parsimony resolves anaspids as monophyletic, nested among stem-gnathostomes. Our results suggest the anaspid dermal skeleton is a degenerate derivative of a histologically more complex ancestral vertebrate skeleton, rather than reflecting primitive simplicity. Hypotheses that anaspids are ancestral skeletonizing lampreys, or a derived lineage of jawless vertebrates with paired fins, are rejected

Quantum Gravitational Corrections to the Nonrelativistic Scattering Potential of Two Masses

We treat general relativity as an effective field theory, obtaining the full nonanalytic component of the scattering matrix potential to one-loop order. The lowest order vertex rules for the resulting effective field theory are presented and the one-loop diagrams which yield the leading nonrelativistic post-Newtonian and quantum corrections to the gravitational scattering amplitude to second order in G are calculated in detail. The Fourier transformed amplitudes yield a nonrelativistic potential and our result is discussed in relation to previous calculations. The definition of a potential is discussed as well and we show how the ambiguity of the potential under coordinate changes is resolved.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figure