710 research outputs found
Background Dependent Lorentz Violation: Natural Solutions to the Theoretical Challenges of the OPERA Experiment
To explain both the OPERA experiment and all the known phenomenological
constraints/observations on Lorentz violation, the Background Dependent Lorentz
Violation (BDLV) has been proposed. We study the BDLV in a model independent
way, and conjecture that there may exist a "Dream Special Relativity Theory",
where all the Standard Model (SM) particles can be subluminal due to the
background effects. Assuming that the Lorentz violation on the Earth is much
larger than those on the interstellar scale, we automatically escape all the
astrophysical constraints on Lorentz violation. For the BDLV from the effective
field theory, we present a simple model and discuss the possible solutions to
the theoretical challenges of the OPERA experiment such as the Bremsstrahlung
effects for muon neutrinos and the pion decays. Also, we address the Lorentz
violation constraints from the LEP and KamLAMD experiments. For the BDLV from
the Type IIB string theory with D3-branes and D7-branes, we point out that the
D3-branes are flavour blind, and all the SM particles are the conventional
particles as in the traditional SM when they do not interact with the
D3-branes. Thus, we not only can naturally avoid all the known phenomenological
constraints on Lorentz violation, but also can naturally explain all the
theoretical challenges. Interestingly, the energy dependent photon velocities
may be tested at the experiments.Comment: RevTex4, 14 pages, minor corrections, references adde
Determining the global minimum of Higgs potentials via Groebner bases - applied to the NMSSM
Determining the global minimum of Higgs potentials with several Higgs fields
like the next-to-minimal supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (NMSSM)
is a non-trivial task already at the tree level. The global minimum of a Higgs
potential can be found from the set of all its stationary points defined by a
multivariate polynomial system of equations. We introduce here the algebraic
Groebner basis approach to solve this system of equations. We apply the method
to the NMSSM with CP conserving as well as CP violating parameters. The results
reveal an interesting stationary-point structure of the potential. Requiring
the global minimum to give the electroweak symmetry breaking observed in Nature
excludes large parts of the parameter space.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure
Urinary active transforming growth factor ß in feline chronic kidney disease
The cytokine transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) has been widely implicated in the development and progression of renal fibrosis in chronic kidney disease (CKD) in humans and in experimental models. The aims of this study were to assess the association between urinary active TGF-β1 and (a) development of CKD in a cross-sectional study, (b) deterioration of renal function over 1 year in a longitudinal study, and (c) renal histopathological parameters in cats. A human active TGF-β1 ELISA was validated for use in feline urine.
Cross-sectional analysis revealed no significant difference in urinary active TGF-β1:creatinine ratio (aTGF-β1:UCr) between groups with differing renal function. Longitudinally, non-azotaemic cats that developed CKD demonstrated a significant (P = 0.028) increase in aTGF-β1:UCr approximately 6 months before the development of azotaemia, which remained elevated (P = 0.046) at diagnosis (approximately 12 months prior, 8.4 pg/mg; approximately 6 months prior, 22.2 pg/mg; at CKD diagnosis, 24.6 pg/mg). In the histopathology study, aTGF-β1:UCr was significantly higher in cats with moderate (P = 0.02) and diffuse (P = 0.005) renal fibrosis than in cats without fibrosis. Cats with moderate renal inflammation had significantly higher urinary active aTGF-β1 concentrations than cats with mild (P = 0.035) or no inflammatory change (P = 0.004). The parameter aTGF-β1:UCr was independently associated with Log urine protein:creatinine ratio in a multivariable analysis of clinicopathological parameters and interstitial fibrosis score in a multivariable analysis of histopathological features. These results suggest that urinary aTGF-β1 reflects the severity of renal pathology. Increases in urinary aTGF-β1 followed longitudinally in individual cats may indicate the development of CKD
The course of cytokine and chemokine gene expression in clinically suspect arthralgia patients during progression to inflammatory arthritis
Objectives: Autoantibody responses increase years before the onset of inflammatory arthritis (IA) and are stable during transitioning from clinically suspect arthralgia (CSA) to IA. Cytokine and chemokine levels also increase years before IA onset. However, the course in the at-risk stage of CSA during progression to disease or non-progression is unknown. To increase the understanding of processes mediating disease development, we studied the course of cytokine, chemokine and related receptors gene expression in CSA patients during progression to IA and in CSA patients who ultimately did not develop IA. Methods: Whole-blood RNA expression of 37 inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and related receptors was determined by dual-colour reverse transcription multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification in paired samples of CSA patients at CSA onset and either at IA development or after 24 months without IA development. ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative CSA patients developing IA were compared at CSA onset and during progression to IA. Generalised estimating equations tested changes over time. A false discovery rate approach was applied. Results: None of the cytokine/chemokine genes significantly changed in expression between CSA onset and IA development. In CSA patients without IA development, G-CSF expression decreased (P = 0.001), whereas CCR6 and TNIP1 expression increased (P < 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively) over a 2 year period. Expression levels in ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative CSA patients who developed IA were similar. Conclusion: Whole-blood gene expression of assessed cytokines, chemokines and related receptors did not change significantly from CSA to IA development. This suggests that changes in expression of these molecules may not be related to the final process of developing chronicity and may have occurred preceding CSA onset. Changes in gene expression in CSA patients without IA development may provide clues for processes related to resolution.</p
The course of cytokine and chemokine gene expression in clinically suspect arthralgia patients during progression to inflammatory arthritis
Objectives: Autoantibody responses increase years before the onset of inflammatory arthritis (IA) and are stable during transitioning from clinically suspect arthralgia (CSA) to IA. Cytokine and chemokine levels also increase years before IA onset. However, the course in the at-risk stage of CSA during progression to disease or non-progression is unknown. To increase the understanding of processes mediating disease development, we studied the course of cytokine, chemokine and related receptors gene expression in CSA patients during progression to IA and in CSA patients who ultimately did not develop IA. Methods: Whole-blood RNA expression of 37 inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and related receptors was determined by dual-colour reverse transcription multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification in paired samples of CSA patients at CSA onset and either at IA development or after 24 months without IA development. ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative CSA patients developing IA were compared at CSA onset and during progression to IA. Generalised estimating equations tested changes over time. A false discovery rate approach was applied. Results: None of the cytokine/chemokine genes significantly changed in expression between CSA onset and IA development. In CSA patients without IA development, G-CSF expression decreased (P = 0.001), whereas CCR6 and TNIP1 expression increased (P < 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively) over a 2 year period. Expression levels in ACPA-positive and ACPA-negative CSA patients who developed IA were similar. Conclusion: Whole-blood gene expression of assessed cytokines, chemokines and related receptors did not change significantly from CSA to IA development. This suggests that changes in expression of these molecules may not be related to the final process of developing chronicity and may have occurred preceding CSA onset. Changes in gene expression in CSA patients without IA development may provide clues for processes related to resolution.</p
MSSM Higgs bosons associated with high-pT jets at hadron colliders
The cross section for the production of the lightest neutral Higgs boson in
association with a high-pT hadronic jet, calculated in the framework of the
minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), is presented. The expectations
for the hadronic cross section at the Large Hadron Collider are discussed using
reasonable kinematical cuts. In particular the contributions from superpartner
loops to the cross section and their dependence on the parameters of the MSSM
are investigated and found to be significant. Comparisons show that the
production rate for h0 + jet in the MSSM can differ widely from the
corresponding standard-model prediction.Comment: 20 page
Differential Cross Section for Higgs Boson Production Including All-Orders Soft Gluon Resummation
The transverse momentum distribution is computed for inclusive Higgs
boson production at the energy of the CERN Large Hadron Collider. We focus on
the dominant gluon-gluon subprocess in perturbative quantum chromodynamics and
incorporate contributions from the quark-gluon and quark-antiquark channels.
Using an impact-parameter -space formalism, we include all-orders
resummation of large logarithms associated with emission of soft gluons. Our
resummed results merge smoothly at large with the fixed-order
expectations in perturbative quantum chromodynamics, as they should, with no
need for a matching procedure. They show a high degree of stability with
respect to variation of parameters associated with the non-perturbative input
at low . We provide distributions for Higgs boson masses
from to 200 GeV. The average transverse momentum at zero rapidity
grows approximately linearly with mass of the Higgs boson over the range ~GeV. We provide analogous results
for boson production, for which we compute GeV. The
harder transverse momentum distribution for the Higgs boson arises because
there is more soft gluon radiation in Higgs boson production than in
production.Comment: 42 pages, latex, 26 figures. All figures replaced. Some changes in
wording. Published in Phys. Rev. D67, 034026 (2003
Validity of Generalized Second Law of Thermodynamics in the Logamediate and Intermediate scenarios of the Universe
In this work, we have investigated the validity of the generalized second law
of thermodynamics in logamediate and intermediate scenarios of the universe
bounded by the Hubble, apparent, particle and event horizons using and without
using first law of thermodynamics. We have observed that the GSL is valid for
Hubble, apparent, particle and event horizons of the universe in the
logamediate scenario of the universe using first law and without using first
law. Similarly the GSL is valid for all horizons in the intermediate scenario
of the universe using first law. Also in the intermediate scenario of the
universe, the GSL is valid for Hubble, apparent and particle horizons but it
breaks down whenever we consider the universe enveloped by the event horizon
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